Glencoe to Repair Clock Tower, Rehab Commuter Lots

Metra commuters will have a smoother place to park their cars at the Glencoe train station and the deteriorating cupola that sits atop Village Hall will get a facelift after a pair of capital projects were approved at Thursday night's meeting of the board of trustees.

The commuter parking lots are badly rutted and have not been paved since 1990, according to Public Works Director Dave Mau, who said asphalt should be replaced every 12 to 15 years.

Peter Baker and Sons of Lake Bluff was awarded a $285,000 contract to repave the three lots. The work will begin May 2 and continue for six weeks, Mau said.

Money for the project comes from Glencoe's share of the state gasoline tax fund, and the paving contract came in well under the $400,000 budgeted in a resolution passed in December.

The commuter lots charge $2 a day, $75 a quarter or $270 annually for parking, whose users are Glencoe residents and other drivers from nearby communities. The lots provide $105,000 a year to the village's general fund.

The cupola, or clock tower, atop Village Hall was installed during the construction of the building in the 1950s and has seen only minor paint work since then. Besides its aesthetic value, the cupola also helps ventilate the building.

“There's a lot of deterioration to the wood facing,” said Mau.

He added that the design will look the same, but that a synthetic fiber will likely replace the rotting wood.

The $7.4 million bond measure passed by voters in November 2008 to refurbish Village Hall and repave many of Glencoe's streets has $63,000 left in the fund, which should cover the cost of cupola repairs.

“I think the cupola cries out for the use of those funds,” trustee Larry Levin said.

Other members of the board agreed.

“Let's fix the cupola,” said Ellen Shubart, a fellow trustee.

“It's on our village seal,” said Bruce Cowans, her colleague on the board.