'Year-Round Color' For Hinsdale's Western Gateway Proposed

HINSDALE, IL – A proposed new medical building drew praise from Hinsdale trustees, but one suggested "tweaks" to the landscaping plan.

The Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, 550 W. Ogden Ave., which recently joined with Hinsdale Orthopaedic Associates, plans to demolish its building and replace it with a larger one.

"For me personally, the (planned) building looks great," Trustee Michelle Fisher said.

But she requested changes to the landscaping because it's Hinsdale's western gateway on Ogden Avenue.

She wanted to see something similar to the evergreens at the eastern gateway, which is the UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Cancer Institute.

Fisher noted the red maples and the white oaks for the new project, but she encouraged larger spruce or some islands of smaller evergreen bushes.

"The reasoning here is we could see some year-round color," the trustee said.

Kathryn Talty, the project's landscape architect, said the low-lying wet areas along Ogden could present a challenge. But she said evergreen could be incorporated.

Fisher also pushed for more mint julep bushes or similar shrubbery along Monroe Street, which is to the east. The bushes would block the new subdivision across the street from the headlights in the parking lot.

"We will always hear through the year questions about headlights shining into folks' homes," Fisher said. "Prior to anything being built across the street, we didn't have to worry about that issue, but now we do."

Talty responded, "Easy, easy. Some of my easiest questions of the day."

Village staffers said they would work with the developer to incorporate the landscaping changes before the Village Board votes on the project.

Already, the developer has made changes to the original plan to allow for more landscaping between the building and houses to the south, the village said. This was at the request of neighbors.