Just one of those days at village hall

Monday, the Hoffman Estates board gave preliminary approval for the final architectural plan for village hall renovations.

I checked the sky for a full moon after the 2½-hour session. There were meetings about what to do about the Lindbergh school that didn't last as long. Surely, the Bears weren't playing Monday, because there was no hurry to end the meeting.

The village board was in rare form cracking jokes. About everything from the lack of hair on certain employees to the need for a women's locker room for the fire department elicited giggles.

The first committee meeting started at 7:41 p.m., 10 minutes late, with trustees Cary Collins and Jackie Green showing up a little tardy, which isn't a regular occurrence.

A video presentation by Gilfillan and Callahan architects was a slow, scrolling, first-person walkthrough of a 3-D rendition of the renovated village hall, complete with stoic, pixilated "stand-ins" for Mayor William McLeod and Police Chief Clinton Herdegen.

The building that houses village hall was purchased in 1991 from Safeco Insurance, and officials say it needs a facelift.

The renovated hall will have better lighting and sound so meetings can be shown on TV. If all meetings are like Monday's, the board might want to stick with the late Bill Wirtz's style of not showing home Blackhawks games on TV.

The presentation started energetically enough, with Trustee Karen Mills asking a battery of security-related questions, but it soon started dragging.

At 9:31 p.m., even Trustee Anna Newell's husband departed. Gerald Newell has endured the meetings so he could drive his wife home after her foot surgery immobilized her. Trustee Gary Pilafas bailed him out, offering to drive his colleague home.

At 9:42 p.m., no fewer than four staff members collectively held their hand to their mouth and yawned.

At 9:45 p.m., the computer tour arrived at the village clerk's new office, and Clerk Bev Romanoff shouted out that it was "about time."

At 9:48 p.m., Collins asks if an escalator could be installed, which is greeted by more laughter. I wonder if a monorail is next on the list. (Mercy came at 10:08 p.m. as the meeting ended.)

Wish they could have livened up the slow pace of the 3-D walkthrough -- maybe throwing in an alien a la "Halo 3," or actually showing the village boardroom. Yes, the walkthrough lacked a preview of the boardroom.

Sure, there was talk about a waterfall for the atrium that could somehow spell out words. There was talk about a fitness room for administrators and a gymnasium, but no boardroom.

Village Manager Jim Norris assured the board members the design still had some work. For instance, the Cook County Board of Election advised him earlier that morning that the new hall should have a room where a resident could securely and comfortably fill out a pre-vote ballot before an Election Day.

Now, we've all had days in the office that are, for lack of a better term, special, and most prefer to go to work with a smile.

Just know municipal government isn't immune to this either, and sometimes, it's one of those slow-motion days in the board room.

• Do you have any interesting Hoffman Estates story ideas? Contact Ashok Selvam at (847) 427-4475 or aselvam@dailyherald.com.