Vernon Hills Plans to Construct Community Rooms at Larry Laschen Community Center

Officials from the Village of Vernon Hills are researching demolition costs to vacate the Larry Laschen Community Center early next year.

The Vernon Hills Park District sent a letter to the village expressing its desire to vacate the Larry Laschen Community Center at 294 Evergreen Drive by the end of March, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Because the Laschen Center is owned by the village, the park district sent a letter expressing its desire to leave by the end of March. The letter says construction should be done by January, which is when the park district plans to stop offering space to the community and begin transitioning its programming into the Sullivan Center.

However, park officials say room availability at the Sullivan Center will be more competitive than the current arrangement at the Laschen Center.
The village purchased the Laschen Center building — constructed in the late 1950s as part of the Tally Ho Country Club — in the late 1970s and converted it into the village hall, according to Village Manager John Kalmar.
Vernon Hills built a new village hall next door in 2001 and in 2002 began leasing the Laschen Center to the park district for $1 a year, Kalmar said.
Jeff Fougerousse, the park district's executive director, said the 2002 lease requires the park district to provide some free space for community groups to meet, something that costs money at all other park district facilities. Once the Laschen Center is closed, all rooms throughout the district will have streamlined prices to cover upkeep and staffing.