BATAVIA – Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke continues to see good things on the horizon for the city despite a sluggish economy.
During his annual mayor’s breakfast Tuesday, Schielke announced that Aldi plans to add a six-story office building to its corporate headquarters at 1200 North Kirk Road and Jewel is planning a multi-million dollar renovation of its store on Randall Road.
“The Aldi office building will be the tallest building ever built in Batavia,” Schielke said during the Batavia Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
Batavia plan commissioners are expected to review the plans in December, Community Development Director Jerry Swanson said.
Aldi officials were not immediately available for comment.
In addition, Schielke said, Jewel is expected to begin a multi-million dollar renovation of its Randall Road store early next year. Swanson said the project will involve an interior remodeling of the store but will not expand its size.
The store is almost 65,000 square feet and opened in February 1990. The proposed renovation is part of Jewel’s ongoing remodeling program, said Jewel-Osco communications manager Karen May.
“Since 2007, we have remodeled almost 70 stores and built two new ‘green’ stores in Chicago, May said.
Despite the downturn in the economy, Schielke said, new businesses continue to open in Batavia, including Buy Buy Baby, which opened in October where Linens ‘n Things was previously located on Randall Road.
Buy Buy Baby, which is a subsidiary of Bed Bath & Beyond, sells merchandise for newborns to toddlers. The Batavia store is the chain’s third store in Illinois and is the first store in Kane County.
But Schielke said one of the greatest accomplishments this year was the opening of Water Street Studios. The nonprofit group Batavia Artists Association worked with Batavia Enterprises to convert the vacant industrial building at the corner of Water and First streets into an arts center that houses 26 artist studios and an art gallery.
The center also is used to teach classes and workshops.
“This will be one of the real cornerstones of downtown Batavia for years to come,” Schielke said.
With sales tax revenues down $1.3 million because of the sluggish economy, he said the city has had to tighten its belt, including reducing the number of city employees by 10 percent.
Schielke said the city continues to look for ways to cut costs.
“We have totally rebuilt the electrical system in town and are now able to buy power directly off the national grid,” Schielke said.
Schielke said bypassing Commonwealth Edison to buy power directly will save the city $1 to $2 million a year along with enhancing the system’s reliability.