May 17, 2024
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Huntley approves demolition of old fire station

The demo marks a change in original plan for redevelopment of building

By James T. Norman
The former Fire Station 1 of the Huntley Fire Protection District at 11808 Coral St. in Huntley on Thursday, March 10, 2022. A new development that calls for the renovation of the village's old fire station downtown was approved Thursday by the Village Board. The plan calls for three stories to be added to the building, as well as renovations to prepare it for mixed use, including a restaurant on the first floor and residential on the upper floors. The plan is a key part of the village's plans to redevelop its downtown area.

The former Fire Station 1 of the Huntley Fire Protection District at 11808 Coral St. in Huntley on Thursday, March 10, 2022. (Gregory Shaver - gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver - gshaver@shawmed)

The decades-old fire station in downtown Huntley will be demolished and rebuilt as part of a plan to turn the site into apartments and a restaurant, which marks a change in the original plan to repurpose the building.

A change to the plan was passed Thursday by the Village Board with no discussion. No residents spoke on the item.

Information on the date of the demolition was not immediately available.

The decision to tear down the building instead of repurposing it came after the developer, Billitteri Enterprises LLC, found it would be more cost-effective to rebuild the structure rather than make changes needed for it to be able to support the three additional floors planned.

Once completed, the new building’s first floor will resemble the old fire station, with the footprint and exterior color planned to be the same.

Originally passed in March, the redevelopment plan called for the one-story building to have three stories built on top of the existing structure to house apartment units, while the ground floor would be turned into a restaurant.

The timeline for the project is expected to remain the same, Village President Tim Hoeft said Wednesday.

The building is more than 60 years old, having been built in 1958 as a fire station for the Huntley Fire Protection District. After the district moved out in September 2020, the building sat without a buyer for about a year.

Fire Chief Scott Ravagnie said seeing the building demolished would be “disheartening,” but said that given how long it sat without a buyer, the options were limited.

Hoeft said repurposing the building was something he would have liked as well.

“When we looked at the development possibilities there, that was one of the things I liked … that there was a chance to save this building,” Hoeft said.

As part of the agreement, the building was sold to the village for $375,000, which was, in turn, sold to the developer for $10. The plan calls for Billitteri to committ about $5 million to the project.