When Nada Becker first got the offer last November to move the Wilmette-Kenilworth Chamber of Commerce to new headquarters in Linden Square’s historic Arthur Gerber building, she was ambivalent.
“I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, another move?'” Becker, the chamber’s executive director, said.
Becker’s caution was understandable. Chamber staff moved to space in Plaza del Lago on Wilmette’s northern border only three years before, uprooting themselves from downtown Wilmette.
“I thought we would be at Plaza de Lago for a long time,” she said.
But she couldn’t deny the draw of the building, at 351 Linden Ave., better known to most Wilmette residents as the old Linden CTA Station at Fourth Street and Linden or, more recently, the Linden branch of North Shore Community Bank and Trust.
According to “Images of Wilmette,” a book by Wilmette Historical Museum director Kathy Hussey Arntsen and museum curator Patrick Leary, the tiny station was constructed and designed in the Prairie style by Arthur Gerber, an architect for the Northwestern Elevated Company. In 1921 two wings were added to enlarge it.
The station, which became a CTA stop after the Northwestern Elevated line became part of the CTA system, closed in 1993. However it was preserved as a local landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, according to “Images of Wilmette.”
It now stands next to the modern CTA Linden stop for the Purple Line, which generates significant pedestrian traffic, Becker said. It stands at the center of Linden Square, a tiny but active Wilmette business district,
It also stands close to nearby Northwestern University in Evanston. That community is one that the Chamber wants to reach out to, she said.
“We thought long and hard about this,” Becker said. “Was it best for us? Was it best for the business community? And we decided the benefits outweighed any difficulties in making another move.”
Cathy Pratt, president of North Shore Community Bank’s Wilmette branch, extended the offer after North Shore Community Bank made the decision to close its Linden Square branch after 18 years.
“We have two other branches within a mile, so we knew our customers were still being served,” she said. “It’s an historic building and I’m an aficionado of Wilmette history, so I wanted a tenant in there who would respect that history.
“I think it’s a perfect place for (the chamber).”
Once Becker confirmed the chamber was interested in the building, Pratt worked with the chamber and village officials to ensure that the lease could be completed with dispatch. While the bank owns the building, Wilmette leases the land on which it stands from the CTA.
The bank branch closed March 31. After that, North Shore spent roughly $30,000 to turn it into a reception area, conference room, staff office and storage space for the chamber. Both Pratt and Becker joked that the removal of bank architecture within the building means “there’s no more bullet-proof glass” to deal with.
Meanwhile, Becker and her staff moved into their new home on June 1.
Last week Becker and summer intern Ella Brumitt were hard at work preparing for the chamber’s annual Summerfest the annual two-day shopping, music, and entertainment festival that will take over much of downtown Wilmette and nearby July 10 and 11.
It left them little time to unpack the last of their boxes, but Becker said she’s already comfortable in the chamber’s new home.
“It’s a fabulous opportunity to engage with the community, and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing,” she said.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy
