Year in Review: A look back at the top stories in St. Charles in 2022

From a fire that destroyed large parts of the shuttered Pheasant Run Resort to St. Charles taking a starring role in a new Netflix movie, it’s been an eventful year in the city.

Here is a look back at some of the top St. Charles stories the Kane County Chronicle covered in 2022.

Pheasant Run fire

About 4:41 p.m. May 21, the St. Charles police and fire departments responded to the former Pheasant Run Resort at 4051 E. Main St. following reports of a fire at the site. When they arrived, authorities found large sections of the resort engulfed in flames.

It took more than 100 firefighters from 26 fire departments to extinguish the blaze. Two youths have been charged with causing the fire.

Two additional male juveniles each have been charged with trespassing at the resort. According to authorities, the four juveniles illegally entered the property and two of the juveniles allegedly were involved in setting papers on fire at two separate locations. The two juveniles who set the papers on fire allegedly left the area without extinguishing the fire.

Filming of Netflix movie “The Killer” in downtown St. Charles

Downtown St. Charles certainly should be well-represented in the Netflix noir thriller “The Killer.”

Award-winning director David Fincher, known for such films as “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Gone Girl” and “Fight Club,” was in downtown St. Charles in March filming the movie. The movie stars Michael Fassbender, known for playing the character Magneto in the X-Men movies, and Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton. Both were in downtown St. Charles for the filming.

Much of the filming took place at the historic Hotel Baker, which was built in 1928 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Paris, New Orleans and the Dominican Republic also served as backdrops for the movie.

St. Charles Public Library closed for more than two weeks after mask protest

The St. Charles Public Library reopened for in-person visits in February after being closed for more than two weeks after threats were made against employees for following the state’s then-indoor mask requirements.

The library reopened after a security guard was put in place at the library’s entrance.

After a group of more than three dozen people on Jan. 18 protested the St. Charles Public Library’s decision to follow the statewide indoor mask mandate, employees received “hundreds of communications” some that included threatening comments, according to officials.

Controversy over development of former police station site along Fox River

St. Charles alderpersons are looking to start over the process to redevelop the former police station site along the Fox River.

At the Dec. 19 St. Charles City Council meeting, alderpersons unanimously approved a motion to reject all the concept proposals for the former police station site. During the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee meeting Dec. 12, the committee directed city staff to put together a request for proposals in order to engage a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for the property.

Staff plans to develop an RFP document for alderpersons to review at a future Planning and Development Committee meeting. Plans are for the feasibility study to start in May, with the study estimated to take six months to complete.

There has been much public opposition to Frontier Development’s plans for the site.

Frontier Development, in partnership with Chicago-based The Prime Group and Architectural Wood Expressions, had proposed to build a six-story building and parking garage that would contain 107 residential units, four restaurants, 164 hotel rooms, a spa/fitness center and conference space. An 85,000-square-foot outdoor plaza, two rooftop pools and 750 lineal feet of public riverwalk are part of the plans.

The project would cost about $150 million to build with the developers asking the city for up to $20 million tax increment financing and revenue sharing financing provided by the city.

Alderpersons also had been reviewing Murphy Development Group’s proposal to build a five- to seven-story building that would house 141 apartments, a restaurant and retail space. The project would cost an estimated $60.5 million, with the developer not seeking any incentives from the city.

At a special St. Charles City Council workshop meeting July 25, alderpersons reviewed four proposals for the site. The majority of alderpersons at that meeting voiced their preference for the proposals put forth by Murphy Development Group and Frontier Development.

St. Charles School District 303 gets new superintendent

Paul Gordon started July 1 as the new superintendent of St. Charles School District 303. He succeeds Jason Pearson, who left the district to become the superintendent of Northbrook School District 28.

Gordon previously had served as the superintendent of the Wenatchee School District in Wenatchee, Washington. Before that, he served as superintendent for Glen Ellyn School District 41 for six years.

Gordon said he wants to work with the board to achieve its goal of moving D-303 from a really good school district to a great school district for every student.

“It’s also about getting the organization ready to take on a strategic plan,” he said. “That’s one of those pieces that are critical, I believe, to a school district, to really have an understanding of where we’re going and defining what is a great school district for us and then putting steps in place for us to achieve those outcomes.”

New developer eyeing redevelopment of largely vacant Charlestowne Mall

A new developer plans to redevelop the largely vacant Charlestowne Mall on St. Charles’ east side after a previous plan was scrapped earlier this year.

UrbanStreet Group is under contract to purchase the mall. A plan to redevelop the mall was shelved earlier when several St. Charles alderpersons and plan commissioners questioned whether the proposal was the best plan for the site.

That plan was to raze the majority of the mall to make way for 560 apartments and townhouses, a hotel and new restaurants and retail along East Main Street. During a City Council Planning and Development Committee meeting in January, several alderpersons raised concerns about the number of units being proposed along with the plan’s layout.

The partnership of S.R. Jacobson Development Corp. and Lormax Stern Development Co. previously had entered into a purchase agreement for the property with current owners The Krausz Companies. In December 2017, Krausz closed the interior shops and enclosed mall space at the center.

St. Charles City Council approves apartment building project after plans revised

Frontier Development in October was given the green light to proceed with its proposed River East Lofts apartment project near the Fox River after revising its plans.

The sticking point had been a proposal to vacate portions of South Second Avenue and Indiana Avenue rights of way. The project is proposed to be built at the southeast corner of Illinois and Riverside avenues on the site of the former St. Charles Chamber of Commerce building.