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Commission approves termination of demolition review for vacant bank building at 120 East Grand Avenue
Summary
After hearing a redevelopment proposal and a history of failed reuse attempts, the commission terminated the demolition-review process for the 1970s-era bank building at 120 East Grand Avenue to allow redevelopment plans to proceed.
The Historic Preservation Commission Jan. 8 voted to terminate demolition review for the former Northern Trust bank building at 120 East Grand Avenue, clearing an early procedural hurdle so the property owner can pursue redevelopment in the Central Business District.
Project representative (last name Whitmer) described the building as a seventies-era brick structure that has been vacant for approximately a decade and said multiple adaptive-reuse attempts—ranging from a proposed restaurant to other commercial uses—proved economically infeasible. “The bank itself has been vacant for, I think, probably almost 10 years now,” the presenter said, noting renovation estimates for uses like a restaurant or studio were in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
The applicant presented a conceptual plan for a two-story residential project with underground parking that the presenter said would better support downtown vitality and foot traffic near the train and lake. The proposed site plan includes an underground parking level with roughly 14 spaces (including tandem spaces) and additional surface spaces along Oak and the north corner; the team said underground parking and removal of curb cuts would preserve street parking.
Commissioners reviewed the site’s history; staff noted the building was not included in the National Register district and is not among the town’s historically significant buildings identified in earlier surveys. Commissioners said the structure’s age (about 55 years), limited architectural significance and long vacancy weighed in favor of allowing redevelopment to proceed.
A motion to terminate demolition review passed on a voice vote and the applicant was told to pursue required planning and building approvals with the village and planning commission. Commissioners remarked that the project should be designed sensitively to fit the downtown context; the applicant said the new building would draw on local historic materials and scale in its design approach.
Commissioners and members of the audience noted the challenges and costs associated with removing the building’s concrete vaults and other heavy construction elements; the project team acknowledged demolition of the vault will be a major undertaking.
