Nearly a year after the COVID-19 vaccine rollout began, we take a look back at the top stories of the year in Franklin Park, outlining the ups and downs the community faced in 2021.
Dogs euthanized after Franklin Park dog attack
Fabian Guzman, a 47-year-old man seriously injured in a Sept. 19 dog attack, was released from the hospital 16 days after being attacked by two dogs.
The dogs bit the man’s face and ripped his leg flesh down to muscle and tendon, police said. Guzman underwent skin graft surgery to repair his injuries.
A 12-year-old boy and another dog were also injured in the attack, according to police reports. The dogs’ owner, Maria Alcantara Salgado of Franklin Park, took them to be euthanized to protect the public from future attacks, police said.
Franklin Park improves streets ahead of new I-490 tollway
Franklin Park embarked on a series of road improvements beginning in May to complement the coming I-490 interchange project, which will enable commuters to access O’Hare International Airport from the west.
The I-490 project, also referred to as the O’Hare Western Bypass, is meant to carry north-south traffic around the western border of O’Hare and provide access to the airport, according to the Illinois Tollway website. The I-490 interchange project begins with a partial interchange with I-294 in Franklin Park.
The work is expected to facilitate access to southbound I-294 off of Franklin Avenue in Franklin Park. Additionally, Village President Barrett Pedersen said northbound I-294 traffic could ramp off to I-490 and then ramp down to Franklin Avenue.
The project will also entail Franklin Park completing reconstruction work and widening Franklin Avenue beginning in the winter of 2022, with a completion date anticipated in the fall of 2023. Franklin Park has received $35 million in grants for the project.
Industrial building breaks ground as Franklin Park awaits I-490 tollway
The planned I-490 also brought about a new development in the second half of 2021, with an industrial building coming to Franklin Park and potential for similar projects in the future, officials said.
Mayor Barrett Pedersen, developers and contractors participated in a ceremony in October celebrating the groundbreaking for the planned 100,000-square-foot distribution center on Wolf Road. Once completed, the building will be housed on a nearly seven-acre plot that was the previous site of Precision Steel.
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Construction on the building is set to wrap up in the summer of 2022, and the new facility will be prepared to accommodate multiple companies if needed.
Rosemont’s IDI Logistics said the building would be intentionally flexible and feature 24 docks, two drive-in doors and a 130-foot truck court with an underground detention system to hold nearly a half million gallons of stormwater runoff.
Home prices climb in west suburbs
Prices for single-family homes in Franklin Park skyrocketed in 2021, up 17.8% as compared to 2020, according to Bridget Murphy of d’aprile Properties in Park Ridge.
With the ongoing pandemic presenting a shift in attitudes about home and work spaces, single family home prices reached rates 10% higher in Oak Park and River Forest compared to 2020, according to Swati Saxena, managing broker at Baird & Warner’s Oak Park/River Forest office.
Patricia McGowan, a real estate agent who works at Baird & Warner’s Oak Park/River Forest office and has been in the real estate business for 33 years, said a few factors contributed to the high prices. Low interest rates and low inventory, as well as a new trend of people valuing their space more were compounded by an influx of investors flooding the market, she said.
Franklin Avenue closure launches $31M reconstruction project
A road closure announced in June along Franklin Avenue between Williams Drive and Wolf Road through early August marked the beginning of a series of planned road construction events in Franklin Park.
The closure enabled the installation of a box culvert for Silver Creek at Franklin Avenue and allowed ComEd to relocate several utility lines, village officials said. The culvert installation addressed roadway flooding in the community that frequently followed heavy rains.
Franklin Park Utility Commissioner Joe “Tiny” Lauro said the complete road closure was the fastest way to complete the work, cutting the downtime by nearly half.
Life Fitness relocates headquarters to Franklin Park
Life Fitness, a commercial fitness equipment manufacturer, announced in late June that the company would relocate its global corporate headquarters to Franklin Park, according to Mayor Barrett Pedersen.
The company had an existing 200,000 square-foot facility in Franklin Park at 10601 Belmont Avenue, but shared plans to renovate and expand the space and add staff. Life Fitness was expected to transition out of its prior office located in Rosemont beginning in August and commence construction on the Franklin Park facility.
The revamped headquarters was also set to house what the company called its first U.S. based Experience Center, which would serve as a space to showcase product innovations.
– Original Credit: Life Fitness
Franklin Park Fest returns
After its cancellation in 2020 due to pandemic-related public health concerns, Franklin Park Fest returned in 2021 during late August.
The community hosted a scaled-down version of the fest, still offering the usual carnival, food and music, but missing the well-known train element that has drawn attendees to the event in previous years.
As a mitigation measure amid an uptick in summer COVID-19 cases, the fest provided access to free COVID-19 vaccinations under a tent, though workers said the tent did not draw many attendees to get vaccinated.
