It has been an arduous process for the Kankakee Regional Land Bank Authority to get the former Jaffe Drugs building ready to put on the real estate market.

It’s finally nearing completion of all the cleanup necessary after about two years of work.

The building’s facade has been repaired, and asbestos removal has been completed in the boiler room in the basement. Also, the excess miscellaneous junk has been removed from the first floor and the basement.

The property is in the heart of downtown Kankakee at 217 E. Court St.

The final hurdle will be cleared beginning Nov. 4 with the removal of the leftover pharmaceuticals, as reported at Tuesday’s land bank meeting.

Midwest Environmental Consulting Services, the Chicago-based company that was contracted to do the job, has estimated that it will take a couple of weeks to complete.

The adjacent parking lot and alley between the Jaffe building and First Trust Bank at 275 E. Court St. will have to be closed so Midwest Environmental will have room to do the work.

“That’s going to be their staging area for the cleanup,” board secretary Barbi Brewer-Watson said. “They have asked and expressed to the city that, in the worst-case scenario, it should take 14 days. They are hoping for much less than that, but they want to plan for the worst-case scenario.”

There’s no back door to the Jaffe building, so the area to the east of the property will be used for staging the disposal of drugs.

“They did a walk-through already to try to put their plan of action of sorting, bringing stuff up [and] storing inside so that there’s only sealed containers leaving the facility to go to the truck to be sealed there as well,” Brewer-Watson said.

With the cleanup of the pharmaceuticals expected to be done by Nov. 18, the Land Bank board agreed to send out a request for proposal on Nov. 1 to solicit bids for the property.

Interim executive director hired

As previously reported, the Rev. Montele Crawford, the land bank’s executive director, submitted his resignation two months ago.

His last day as executive director is Oct. 31. The board recently hired Brian White, with Chicago-based eProperty Innovations, as interim director. White will be paid $160 per hour for 20 hours of work per month.

White works closely with the organization’s legal counsel, Brent Denzin of Denzin Soltanzadeh LLC of Chicago. White has extensive experience working with land banks.

“We’re going to have to do some extra work than what we’ve already been doing, because 20 hours a month is not that much time for all the work that we’ve got to do,” Land Bank Chairwoman Lisa Sanford said.

The board hasn’t decided when and if it will hire a new executive director. The executive director’s salary is $75,000, which is paid for by the city, while the county pays for the benefits as a county employee.

“We are not searching for anybody yet,” Sanford said. “In two, three or four months, we might have a better idea of what we’re going to do.”

Randy Chaplinski of Bourbonnais, a retired bank executive and attorney, has expressed interest in the position. He’s attended the past two land bank board meetings.

Chaplinski retired in 2021 as president/CEO at State Bank of Herscher after six years in the position. He was previously the senior vice president and chief trust officer at Homestar Bank & Financial Services for 14 years, after serving 17 years as president of Kankakee Title & Trust Co., among other positions, including 45 years as an active attorney at law, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“I’ve been active in a lot of different things in the community,” he said at the September board meeting. “... I want to help you move things along.”