‘Perfect’ location: Polish day care using old bank for new facility in Arlington Heights

A bilingual Polish-English day care program plans to move into a shuttered bank building in Arlington Heights.

Tots Land, which started on Chicago’s Northwest Side in 2009, will open its fourth location at the former BMO Harris Bank branch at 1007 W. Euclid Ave., in Arlington Heights.

The 5,000-square-foot building on the southwest corner of Euclid and Kennicott avenues is across the railroad tracks from BMO Harris’ new branch that opened last year on Northwest Highway.

Village trustees, who approved a special use permit for the business this week, were enthused an old building will get a new use — especially when there’s a high demand for day care services in the suburbs.

“I’m always thrilled when somebody reuses a building, rather than tear it down and build up,” said Trustee Robin LaBedz.

Plans call for a full-scale interior renovation: gone will be the tellers, in favor of new classrooms, offices, bathrooms, and a commercial kitchen where from-scratch meals will be prepared daily, according to the business owners’ village application.

And the drive-through lanes will be replaced with a 732-square-foot building addition that will house an indoor playroom.

Outside, pavement will be replaced with rubber playground tiles and two prefabricated playground structures. The outdoor playgrounds — on the west and south sides of the building — can only be used from 9 a.m. to noon and 3 to 5 p.m. daily, with a capacity of 20 children, under rules approved by the village board this week.

That’s to reduce noise impacts to neighboring homes, officials say. The playgrounds also will be screened by a 6-foot wooden fence and landscaping.

Anita Dwulit, who runs the day care with her husband, Damian, said the Arlington Heights site is the “perfect” location for their growing business. The Mount Prospect residents have been looking for something in the Northwest suburbs since opening their Roselle day care last year.

In addition to the large Polish population in the area, Dwulit said more Ukrainian families are moving here. So the day care is hiring more multilingual staff to help children with language barriers in the beginning until they learn English, she said.

Tots Land already serves 270 families, and will have space for 91 children, 11 teachers and two to four employees in Arlington Heights, officials said.

They serve ages 15 months to 5 years. Hours will be weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.