Schools
Garfield Crossing Demolition Expected to be Done Before School Starts at HMS
Construction at 1st and Garfield streets is expected to take a full year, but Village President Tom Cauley said the village has taken "every step to ensure the safety of students" during the coming school year.
Demolition of the existing building at the site of the Garfield Crossing development will be done before school begins at nearby Hinsdale Middle School next week, village officials have been told.
Village President Tom Cauley used his president's report at Tuesday night's Hinsdale Board of Trustees meeting to address the construction project at 1st and Garfield streets that is expected to take place over the next year, citing developer Clay Naccarato's promise that demolition, which has been delayed this summer by structural concerns about the west wall the building shares with the Chamber of Commerce building on 1st, will be complete by Aug. 22.
"The developer ... has been working with the village to assure that demolition of the existing building occurs before Aug. 22," Cauley said.
At the time the two-story, mixed-use development was approved by the board in May, Naccarato said demolition would begin when school let out in June.
READ: Garfield Crossing Approval 'Monumental Event' for Hinsdale
Cauley said that while the demolition stage may be complete by the start of school, there will certainly be construction going on at the site throughout the school year.
"We have taken every step to ensure the safety of students during this construction project," Cauley said.
A 6-foot-high fence covered in green mesh will surround the space throughout construction. The southwest corner of the 1st-and-Garfield intersection will be closed to pedestrians, who will be directed by barricades and signs to using the north side of 1st and the east side of Garfield.
In addition to school staff being extra vigilant, Naccarato will pay for crossing guards at the intersection.
"We also will have police officers present at the start of the school year to ensure that things go smoothly," Cauley said.
The village president said the year-long construction period is unfortunate.
"It will no doubt be disruptive to our downtown," Cauley said. "But at the end of the process we’ll have a beautiful new building in a central segment that has stood vacant for the last five years."
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