Kane sees high-end uses for old jail site

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Updated: March 11, 2012 8:38AM

GENEVA — With the old Kane County Jail on Fabyan Parkway scheduled to be demolished, Kane County officials some potential uses in mind for the land, and will soon be seeking public opinion on the matter.

Some of the potential uses officials have mentioned include a music venue similar to Ravinia in Highland Park, a hotel resort, a cross country track facility, cross country skiing and a mountain biking facility.

“There are several components to the plan,” County Board member Mike Donahue, R-Geneva, said Wednesday.

The next step will be for the county to take the proposed plan to several locations for public input, Donahue said. He headed up the subcommittee that helped generate the plan.

The plan will be up for discussion at the Batavia City Council meeting on Feb. 20. Concerns about noise from a concert venue may be what is discussed in Batavia, Donahue said.

The old Kane jail is on Fabyan Parkway between Kirk Road and Route 25, on the Geneva-Batavia border.

The plan will also go in front of the Geneva City Council, the Kane County Board Committee of the Whole, the county Forest Preserve Commission and the nearby Fox Run Subdivision Homeowners Association at future meetings, with dates yet to be determined.

“It’s the first opportunity for the public to lay eyes on the plan,” Donahue said.

Batavia concerned

Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke said this week he has viewed the proposals for the redevelopment of the old jail site.

He said he has concerns about the “proposal for a Ravinia-style performance stage at the back end of the Fabyan Forest Preserve on the east side of Route 25.”

“The most troubling aspect to me is the sound from the performing stage points to the Batavia Highlands subdivision,” the mayor said.

Schielke said he would prefer to have the venue designed so that the sound would filter east rather toward residential areas of Batavia.

“I would rather see the dynamics (of the venue) facing to the east where there is no one living there, instead of my residents in the Highlands hearing every word spoken on the stage,” Schielke said.

“I am not trying to (discourage) the idea — I think it is nice the county is trying to redevelop the property, but I definitely want to involve our 14 aldermen in the process relatively quickly.”

“It could be quite the active spot in the future. We want to make sure it doesn’t have an impact on us that we haven’t thought of,” Schielke said.

Donahue said the county will be keeping in mind residents’ concerns about sound from the potential theater. All of the potential uses will be up for public comment. If the public doesn’t support an aspect of the plan, Donahue said that they would not look to move forward with it.

“This whole thing is supposed to be a jewel for Kane County,” Donahue said. “It’s supposed to be a good thing.”

Old jail coming down

At Wednesday’s Executive Committee meeting, County Board members passed a resolution to demolish the old jail building on the property for the cost of $467,000.

Committee members debated how fast they need to move with demolishing the building. Jim Mitchell, R-North Aurora, said he wanted to make sure that the county would be able to recoup the cost of the demolition of the building when the property is sold. Donahue said that the costs would be able to be recouped.

Cathy Hurlbut, R-Elgin, suggested that they needed to move sooner rather than later, because the building would be a nuisance.

“To think that some buyers are going to come in and pay you top dollar and tear down the building, they’re not,” she said.