Sugar Grove library board votes for Prairie Glen site

After meeting for one hour in closed session Thursday, the Sugar Grove Public Library board chose the Prairie Glen property over the Main Street location as the site for the new library.

The board voted unanimously to purchase the 5-acre site on Municipal Drive just south of Route 30 for $985,000, a price that had been reduced from $1.4 million.

The other choice, which the library considered at a July 12 meeting, was a 7-acre site on Main Street just north of Prairie Street that was offered to the library as a donation from the family of Jerry Rich, the owner of Rich Harvest Farms.

However, John Cordogan of Cordogan Clark and Associates, architect for the library, told the board Thursday that the cost of developing the Main Street land could total as much as $900,000.

Cordogan said the library would have to pay the costs of land clearing and grading, installation of storm water sewers, utilities and sidewalks, and construction of a pedestrian crossing over the railroad tracks. Access would be from First Street.

The Prairie Glen site is ready for construction to begin.

There were also concerns about the Rich family donating adjacent property for construction of a church, with preliminary plans having both buildings sharing a parking lot.

"Let's go build a library," board President Art Morrical said after the vote was taken.

Morrical said the Windham Group, developers of the Prairie Glen subdivision, lowered the price of the parcel because "they saw value in our library being part of the development."

"We've been looking forward to being in a residential neighborhood with easy access for all of our patrons," Morrical said. "It's a great location."

Barb Hollmier, a Sugar Grove resident since 1969, voiced her disagreement with the choice of the Prairie Glen site.

"This is actually the fourth site of the library and it has always been on Main Street,' she said. "It's sad to take it away from Main Street. We should have a traditional downtown center with a library being a part of it. The other site is disconnected."

Voters approved $8 million in construction bonds for the library in November 2004. The funds must be used within five years of release and the bond counsel must approve any revisions on the plan for the bond.