Theater Plus Apartments? No, Some Elmhurst Residents Say

ELMHURST, IL – A couple of Elmhurst residents spoke out Monday against an 185-unit downtown apartment complex that may be built along with the long-awaited performing arts center.

The Elmhurst Centre for the Performing Arts building is proposed for the northeast corner of First Street and Addison Avenue.

Resident Jonathan Keenan focused on the effects on traffic.

"That intersection is very, very congested already," Keenan told the City Council. "I'm very concerned for both vehicular and pedestrian safety if the plan, as is, were to be approved and go through."

Laura Werly, a resident and retired teacher from Hawthorne Elementary School, said she supported a performing arts center.

But she said she liked the original plan for the center, not the one that includes the apartments. The building, as now proposed, would "dwarf" its neighbors, she said.

"We don't want to be swallowed up by these huge buildings," Werly said. "The new drawing was 'Oh, my God!' What a difference – massive, tall and not attractive."

The center, she said, is a chance for Elmhurst to shine by doing something architecturally significant.

"Let's work together as a community to do what's best for all," Werly said.

The local performing arts center board is working with Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies to construct the apartment complex and center.

Asked about the criticism Tuesday, Laura Michaud, the board's secretary and founding member, told Patch that the apartment development makes the project financially viable.

"But the bigger picture is that with this development, Elmhurst will see a more dynamic development that adds to the downtown area," she said in an email. "There’s still capacity for more apartments based on studies that have been done. And these studies have been supported by the fact that the buildings constructed to date have been rented at a rapid pace."

Because the complex would be near the train station, some tenants may not need cars, lessening the impact on parking, Michaud said.

The center's board has commissioned a marketing feasibility study that showed the average theater patron would spend $65 at local businesses.

According to the city, Ryan Companies is in the concept phase of the zoning process and has not yet filed a formal proposal.

The project would mean the demolition of a couple of buildings in the 100 block of West First Street, across from the train station.

Ryan is responsible for other projects in Elmhurst, including the 200-unit Vyne on Haven complex downtown. Opening a year ago, Vyne is now about 90 percent occupied.