It appears as if the nearly desolate Meadows Town Mall in Rolling Meadows can’t even support a fast-food restaurant anymore. And an attractive potential tenant may be losing interest as the mall’s redevelopment project drags out.
Rolling Meadows city manager William Barlow indicated that it has been hard for the new owners of the mall, Koll-Bradford developers, to meet the needs of potential retail clients with existing large tenants in place. But that doesn’t look like it will be a problem for long, as the few remaining tenants have begun to drop out. Elek-Tek, the giant computer store, closed last weekend, as did the Wendy’s restaurant facing Golf Road.
Meanwhile, one possible high-profile tenant, The Encore Dinner Theater, still is interested in moving in. But backers of the family-oriented project don’t sound as enthusiastic as they did several months ago. In fact, they have continued to cast around for other sites while the mall’s fate remains up in the air. And they may have found an alternative location outside the northwest suburbs, in Lincolnwood.
The loss of Elek-Tek seems unrelated to the problems of the dying mall: a telephone recording says Elek-Tek plans to “refocus” its efforts on its “corporate, government and education divisions.” Wendy’s, according to Barlow, likewise made a corporate decision to shut down its less-profitable stores in the area.
“No one wanted to see Wendy’s go,” he said.
But it is no surprise that the store at Meadows was among the less-profitable outlets. The mall has only four stores these days, and one of them is a restaurant. Another is a women’s health club, and it seems unlikely that women who have just worked out are going to stop in for a burger and fries as they leave.
Jenny Giocomo, one of the principal backers of the Encore theater, said she got a new version of the Meadows floor plan just days ago.
“We are still looking seriously in Rolling Meadows, and we are keeping an open mind for the best deal, but we have also found a site in Lincolnwood that we like very much,” she said.
The Lincolnwood site, she added, is physically more attractive because it’s in an abandoned Osco store, with high ceilings and its own parking lot, in a very upscale neighborhood.
“We want to open in mid-October, so we need to make a decision in the next couple weeks,” Giocomo said.
At one time she was enthusiastic about the Rolling Meadows site because of developers’ initial plans to bring a hotel into the complex. She foresaw a Pheasant Run sort of arrangement for her theater. Also, the Rolling Meadows site was just down the road from her first choice, in International Plaza in Arlington Heights. But she said developers of the Rolling Meadows mall have indicated that they haven’t been able to land a hotel or a motel as an anchor.
“We talked to the developers last week, and they are still working hard. They told us they have some interest from retailers,” Barlow said, adding that he had heard no more talk about any kind of hotel for the site. “No one wants to be able to report progress at that site more than us. We could really use the sales tax.”
Growing garden: The Chicago Athenaeum continues to expand its presence in Schaumburg. As the village and the museum, which focuses on design and architecture, work out the details of its move to the old Women’s Workout World in Town Square later this year, the museum plans to add 15 sculptures to its International Sculpture Garden, near the village’s municipal campus. The Athenaeum plans to build a $30 million permanent facility on grounds adjacent to the park-like Schaumburg municipal grounds.
“Gothic,” by German sculptor Klause Vieregge, will be dedicated by the prince and princess of Schaumburg-Lippe, Germany, which is Schaumburg’s sister city and the home of many of the early founders of the Chicago suburb. The dedication will be part of the Athenaeum’s May 23 fundraiser for the suburban campus.
In addition, Christian K. Narkiewicz-Laine, president of the museum, said that 15 new sculptures from all over the world are planned for the site this year.
Living sculptures: No doubt none of the works of metal and stone will be as lovely and graceful as Louis and Serena, Schaumburg’s municipal swans, who returned to the pond at the municipal center Wednesday. The stately fowl, actually rented by the village each year, were named by the schoolchildren of Schaumburg after characters in a popular children’s book.
The swans’ main job is to look pretty and produce baby swans. But they have the added task of chasing geese from the area, which they usually perform with relish. In recent years, Louis and Serena typically have produced at least six cygnets to add to the bucolic scene along Schaumburg Road–and to keep pesky Canada geese on the run.
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E-mail: WinterC@aol.com. Or you can visit Christine Winter’s message board at http://www.chicago. tribune.com/go/winter to discuss northwest suburban issues.
