The Mt. Prospect Village Board has hired two firms to design a new village hall.
Trustees awarded a $154,340 contract to DLK Architecture Inc. of Chicago and a $45,000 contract to W.B. Olson Construction Inc. of Northbrook to develop a detailed picture of space needs and cost estimate for the project.
DLK and W.B. Olson are expected to compete their work by December, when the board will decide whether to move forward with the project.
Preliminary estimates for a 30,000- to 35,000-square-foot village hall with adjoining parking deck pegged the cost at roughly $13.5 million.
In an informal straw poll last month, trustees voted 5-2 not to seek a referendum proposal on this matter. But Assistant Village Manager David Strahl said that unofficial vote does not preclude the board from revisiting the issue, particularly if new cost estimates far exceed the preliminary figures. To pay for the hall, the Village Board is considering a 7.5 percent increase in its property tax levy spread out over four years. That would add approximately $4 a year to the average property tax bill. The village would also transfer $1.7 million from the general fund and $2 million from the street improvement fund to pay for the project.
