NIU’s Jordan Lynch to work out privately for Bears
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FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014
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Huntley to tear down former mill
$18.2 MILLION EXPANSION
YMCA plan on pace
Village officials finalize deal for redevelopment By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Sherman Mechanical employee Steve Matusek of Crystal Lake clears a trench Monday for a plumbing line in the new addition of the Sage YMCA in Crystal Lake. The expansion adds an eight-lane competition pool, triples workout space, creates brand-new locker rooms, builds preschool classrooms and renovates just about every inch of the building.
HUNTLEY – Village officials could put to rest more than a year of debate over historic preservation in Huntley when they tear down a former 19th century mill as early as this summer. The demolition of the late1800s Sawyer-Kelley Mill in downtown Huntley was detailed in a redevelopment deal Village Board members finalized Thursday. Trustees supported a plan in December to raze the old structure and build a $940,000 multi-tenant commercial space in its place. The redevelopment project – now headed toward construction – will be the first in Huntley’s longterm effort to revitalize the look of its historic downtown. “We are looking for this to be a catalyst for redevelopment in the [downtown] area – to get things rolling,” Village Manager Dave Johnson said. The village acquired the former mill in late 2012 for $115,000.
Memberships rise as renovations take shape By SHAWN SHINNEMAN CRYSTAL LAKE – Only now, only after locker rooms have opened and the foundation has been laid, does this $18.2 million project seem like reality. “It is starting to feel real,” said Robyn Ostrem, tucked into a small, temporary office in the Sage YMCA of Metro Chicago while her new office remains a blueprint. “It was so conceptual when I first got here. Now I understand it.” Ostrem, Sage’s executive director, started her job Aug. 27 – two days before shovels hit dirt on an ambitious plan to more than double the YMCA’s facility. The plan adds an eight-lane competition pool, triples workout space, creates brand-new locker rooms, builds preschool classrooms and renovates just about every inch of the building. The additions come with one small casualty: one of the center’s two racquetball courts, which will be turned into restrooms because of usage numbers. During a recent tour, Ostrem rarely entered a space that wasn’t going to be changed in
Visit this story on NWHerald.com to view a timetable for the Sage YMCA expansion in Crystal Lake.
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An artist’s rendering shows how the Sage YMCA’s new eight-lane pool with seating for 300 will look. the coming months – usually significantly. In August, at the groundbreaking, Sage Chairman and CEO Vince Foglia said the facility, when complete, will be the flagship Y in the entire country. “I think that’s still foremost in everyone’s mind,” Ostrem said. “This is a really neat thing happening here.” Foglia saved the center from bankruptcy in 2011 with an unspecified financial contribution from the Foglia Family Foundation. Two years later, in April 2013, the Sage YMCA got clearance from the
Crystal Lake City Council to turn its 29,000-square-foot facility into 72,000-square-feet and add 133 parking spaces for a total of 317 spaces. Though a harsh winter slowed progress since the August groundbreaking, the building is still on pace to reach completion in December. In mid-February, the Y unveiled its new men’s locker room, the first finished part of the renovations. The women’s locker room and a downstairs spin room also have been completed. “We wanted to give people a
reason to believe ... that there was a light at the end of the tunnel,” Ostrem said. If memberships tell the tale, people believe. Ostrem said that while she worried people would be wary of working out around construction, memberships are up since work started. “I think people are excited for the changes, and they see the value in the work we are doing,” she said. By the end of May, crews will have extended the fitness center outward from the building and expanded it into space previously used for other YMCA functions.
See YMCA, page A6
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ACT may cost families in ’15 State weighs how to pay for increased testing in schools By KERRY LESTER
At a glance
The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – As they juggle school-reform demands with budget cuts, state education officials are considering retaining a traditional college-readiness test for high school juniors but passing the cost along to school districts and possibly the students’ families. The move would be just one cost-cutting possibility after Illinois schools have seen close to $1 billion in cuts since 2009, and as educators warn of more drastic cuts when revenues fall if lawmakers decide not to extend a temporary income tax hike set to expire at the end of this year. State board officials estimate it will cost $14 million for
Illinois officials estimate it will cost $14 million for all high school juniors to take the ACT test next year. They are considering providing the test free only to low-income students and requiring other families to shoulder the $52.50 cost.
See TESTING, page A6
LOCALLY SPEAKING
McHenry County’s
WOODSTOCK
JACOBS HOLDS OFF WOODSTOCK Jacobs senior Reilly Peltier had no idea he was going to be starting for the Golden Eagles on Thursday during the team’s Fox Valley Conference crossover game at Woodstock. Peltier ended up pitching in short sleeves, but he didn’t allow the cold to affect his right arm. He struck out eight in four innings to lead Jacobs to a 9-3 victory. For more, see page C1.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
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