Politics & Government

Mayor Discusses Moving Masons in Land Swap Deal

Mayor Dave Heilmann floats plan to residents to move Masons into a new building to be paid for by the village in exchange for Masons' property on 52nd Avenue.

Mayor Dave Heilmann and Trustee Alex Olejniczak went head to head over a proposed plan to move the into a new building to make way for possible expansion of the village green.

Plans call for possibly demolishing the existing Masonic Temple at 9420 S. 52nd Ave. and moving it to village-owned property north of Oak Lawn Village Hall on 53rd Court on the site of the former Family Services building.

In exchange for a brand new building to be paid for by the village, the Masons would turn their property over to the village in a land swap. Moving the Masons would open 40,000 square feet to expand the village green.

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“This is an opportunity to take what we have now and make it a better place for those not only throughout Oak Lawn, but for those who live right there,” Heilmann told residents at a community meeting at the Oak Lawn Senior Center on Monday. “I love the village green but I never thought that it was as good as we can have it.”

The mayor floated the motion to do a land swap with the fraternal organization before in February. Olejniczak, whose District 2 constituents would be most directly impacted, requested that the motion be tabled from the board’s consent agenda so that a community meeting could be held.

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Based on a 2009 appraisal, the village is prepared to pay the Masons $875,000 for a new building. The project would be funded by the sale of village-owned property on 95th Street—including the senior center—to a “substantial interested party” that is currently talking to village officials about buying the properties.

The village has been offered in excess of $1.75 million for the land parcels, the mayor explained.

“We’re not allowed to say the name because of legal agreements,” Heilmann said, “but it would be putting public property back on the tax rolls.”

Olejniczak had to ask a few times when the appraisal had been done. Told it had been in 2009, he questioned whether the property had decreased in value in a down economy.

“We’ll have to get a new appraisal,” Olejniczak said. “A majority of the board agreed we had to table this to have this meeting. It’s a concern for residents because there would have been action taken on it without a meeting to discuss this.”

The mayor said the village’s offer to the Masons, which regularly allow the village and to use their lot for overflow parking and during village green events, was capped at $875,000.

Residents grilled village officials on financing, parking and lot lines adjacent to the village green. It took a few rounds of questions before the mayor told residents that moving the Masonic temple would be financed by the sale of village-owned property to the “subsequent interested party.” Such a sale would also require relocating the senior center.

Architect Jim Petrakos, at the mayor’s behest, unveiled “conceptual” drawings of additional embellishments to the village green to turn it into a “multi-seasonal park,” including a possible ice skating rink, fountain pool, enhanced stage for concerts, and temporary buildings for refreshment stands.

Olejniczak said “the mayor only speaks for himself.”

“That’s the concern for most of the citizens,” Olejniczak said. “We got $875,000 for the Masons and [the improvements are] $2 million to $3 million.”

Olejniczak suggested that such improvements could be made to the village green without requiring the Masons to move into new quarters.

Heilmann said feasibility studies would be needed to see if the conceptual plans for the village green could move forward.

“I hope we never shy away from saying, ‘can you tell us what’s possible,’” the mayor said.

After the meeting, Jim Karner, building manager for the Masonic Temple, said getting a new, more energy efficient building would cut down on the Masons’ expenses.

“We’re willing to work with the village but in the same aspect, we’re not going to take on the responsibility of a new building which we have to pay for,” Karner said, whose father helped build the temple in 1954. “That building is ours outright so we’re not about to get a mortgage because we have no way of paying for it. We’re not going to pay a dime.”

Olejniczak said he was happy the mayor finally realized how important it was to get public input.

“No one is against advancing our community,” he said. “We got contracts out there, we got the 111th Street development. There are a lot of things we have going on. We need to be very cautious of how we spend taxpayer dollars.”


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