DG Township Multi-purpose Senior Center

DG Township Multi-purpose Senior Center updated their phone number.

The April edition of the APWA Reporter featured our new Township Center!
https://apwa.partica.online/reporter/april-2021/flipbook/82/

The APWA Reporter, April 2021

March 19th 10 AM is our dedication ceremony!

LIVE/VIRTUAL RIBBON-CUTTING EVENT – to Celebrate the Opening of the Township Center | Downers Grove Township will hold a dedication ceremony for the newly built Township Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4341 Saratoga Ave., Downers Grove.  The dedication will take place on March 19th at 10am.

End of December and we're buttoned up. The STEM Lab plantings and landscaping areas are ready for overwinter with erosion blankets in place. All compensatory stormwater elements are installed, tested, and working properly. Parking lot is finished and open. Highway Department has a rubber tipped snow plow blade ready to install on one of their pickup trucks so we can keep the whole lot clear and not trash the bricks. Crosswalk is striped, and all remaining exterior concrete finished.

As you can see from the last picture, We still have exterior lighting to install. Interior painting and floor seal, installation of hallway and bathroom tile, carpet tiles in meeting room, all remain on the to do list. Kitchen installation is on schedule for late January, and so is the massive move of the FISH Food and Clothing Pantry that is currently busting at the seams serving 85+ families a week!

Michael Heinze (R) is the Downers Grove North High School Science Department Chair. He stopped by today to say hey and take a look at our dirt. It's some really good dirt. He and his fellow science teachers and students are working on some big plans for this dirt. Stay tuned!

New Permeable Paver Parking Lot On Top Of Stormwater Storage
https://youtu.be/ofxmezLM2jo

Downers Grove Township - New Building Parking Lot Downers Grove Township - New Building Parking Lot

Pedestrian and student safety - we're putting in a lot of sidewalks!
https://youtu.be/CsYaXJmMOFU

Downers Grove Township - New Sidewalk Passage Downers Grove Township - New Sidewalk Passage

The Downers Grove Township multi-purpose senior center is getting there. Here's a simple video so you can see just one of the purposes. Never a wrong time to do the right thing!

We didn't borrow money or take on debt to build this. We patiently saved to avoid interest costs.

I snapped off three of these off-the-cuff on a couple things, and maybe do a couple more so stay tuned!

Find out more about FISH and the good things they do here on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Downersgrovefish/
and on their website:
https://www.downersgrovefish.org/

FISH Food Pantry new digs A walk through the unfinished Downers Grove FISH Pantry space inside the new Downers Grove Township Multi-Purpose Senior Center.

Today we started work on required stormwater storage. The company that makes the vaults, Stormtech, is currently one of the largest users of recycled plastics. It's going in row by row, with dump trucks bringing in gravel, and taking away dirt. Required stormwater storage is expensive! The Stormtech vaults allow a smaller footprint with large storage capability that fits completely under what will be a permeable paver parking lot. It's designed to take rainwater directly from the parking lot, and also connects in to act as backup storage for the four foot wide storm sewer that runs down Saratoga, in case we get another one of those hundred year rains that seems to happen every couple years. So in reality, it becomes another piece in the puzzle of stormwater retention and detention, to help alleviate potential flooding in the Village of Downers Grove.

The Conservation Foundation is helping us out with four rain barrels to take a bit of roof run off, to be used for watering needs. Thanks!

Brickwork continues, windows on order. Brrrr! What's with the snow?!

Just a note: we're moving along with construction of the Township Center. It's muddy out there right now, but the bricklayers are moving through efficiently and quickly. The roof is white to better reflect heat in the summer, and has two staggered layers of insulation to hold in heat in the winter.

You can find daily construction updates, pictures, and more on our website Transparency page: https://www.dgtownship.com/supervisor/transparency/

Tuesday 9/28 is one of those days where everything seems to be happening at once: roof insulation semi being unloaded, sewer connection to the west (far) side of Saratoga makes for one lane traffic for the day, sidewall exterior sheathing finishing in advance of a brick and mortar delivery, interior work on several trades continues. Good day to avoid Saratoga just south of Ogden!

Building the exterior walls. Modern insulation standards will make this new building tighter than the 1981 Township office building next to it.

Bird’s Eye Views

Every so often our friend and senior supporter Robert Petranek stops by with his drone and snaps off some aerial views of the Township Center for us.

We’ll be working on pouring the finish coat of the floor this week, if the rain lets us, and then on to the exterior walls next week. We’ve had a few kinks but we’re still tracking very close to our time frame, and still on budget.

Looking good!

Name Needed for Fox

Frankie?
We don’t know if it’s male or female, but it doesn’t appear to be leaving, it’s hanging around. Maybe not coincidentally, we haven’t seen a single field mouse since the fox showed up.

Latest rendering. Changing from prairie stone to brick below the windows saves some $$. Changing from awnings to internal blinds saves some $$. Both changes better match the existing building. This look is from the SW corner of Saratoga and Sherman, looking NW.

Bird’s Eye View 08/04/20 | Friends for Downers grove Township Seniors Board Chair Robert Petranek sent over some drone shots of the project so far. This week, most of the steel supporting the first floor is installed, Next week the prestressed concrete panels arrive for installation of the ground level subfloor, foundation in...

New site inspector.

I'm used to seeing the old big bulky wall forms for concrete. These were sleek new forms, much thinner, and held together by internal steel brace rods that tied into the rebar, and by an external wooden frame. The result is a very smooth dense wall with few if any imperfections. The pump truck is the closest thing to a skyhook I've ever seen. 70 yards of concrete with a lot more to come, pumped over an arch that seemed roughly the size of the Gateway Arch.

MT

Getting ready to start pouring the basement walls.

In the great scheme of things a project like this - less than $2.5 Million - is small. Even though it's a modest project, it provides work for over 103 tradesman, from all across the construction trades spectrum. We're pleased many of the trades that are working on the project are businesses in this area, employing workers who are residents in this area.

Foundations, pier supports, underground drainage and plumbing all in place. Looking for good weather to pour some basement walls ASAP!

Big hole dug: check.
Footings, piers, elevator well poured: check.
This week the underground plumbing goes in.
Rain, rain, stay away!

You can follow the Township Multi-purpose Senior Center progress on our Transparency page here: https://www.dgtownship.com/supervisor/transparency/

Getting ready for the first pour, of the footings and the support column piers. C'mon weather, be nice!

You can follow our progress on our Transparency Page here:
https://www.dgtownship.com/supervisor/transparency/ where we're keeping track of everything, and when the weather allows even include pictures in our construction progress reports.

Township Multi-use Senior Center Project Transparency

We’ve added a new section to our Transparency Page for the Township Multi-use Senior Center. There you’ll find information related to the project: Documents, Audited Monthly Bills, Daily Reports (some with pictures), and Photos & Videos.
https://www.dgtownship.com/supervisor/transparency/

We’ll try and keep this updated as we go so the public can follow our progress and see how we’re doing!

Transparency | We’ve expanded storage of our Township Transparency page so we can make more information available to our residents. Everything from meeting agendas and videos to annual budgets and our checkbook audit, conducted monthly by each Trustee as part of their duties. Click on the titles to expand/hide i...

Township Multi-use Senior Center Project Transparency

We’ve added a new section to our Transparency Page for the Township Multi-use Senior Center. There you’ll find information related to the project: Documents, Audited Monthly Bills, Daily Reports (some with pictures), and Photos & Videos.

https://www.dgtownship.com/supervisor/transparency/

We’ll try and keep this updated as we go so the public can follow our progress and see how we’re doing!

Township Multi-purpose Senior Center Groundbreaking Ceremony

On Friday, June 5th, 2020, Downers Grove Township broke ground on its long-planned Township Multi-purpose Senior Center. The project is located immediately next door to the existing Township offices located at 4340 Prince, Downers Grove IL.

Attending the brief ceremony were representatives of the non-profit volunteer groups and educational institutions that will make use of the facility and grounds: the FISH Food and Clothing Pantry, the DuPage Senior Citizens Council, and Downers Grove North High School Environmental Science Department, GardenWorks, and the Conservation Foundation. Friends for Downers Grove Township Seniors, a tax-deductible non-profit, is also raising funds to outfit the building interior.

Also attending the ceremony were representatives of EP Doyle, of Wheaton IL, the General Contractor for the project.

Supervisor Mark Thoman said, “This is a project being built by local businesses, and will give over 110 tradesmen, most who live here in DuPage County, work this year, jobs now, help for the economy now, for our residents that we want to better help. We’ll end up with a facility that allows us to better serve those who need it most for many, many years to come.”

Township Supervisor Mark Thoman also noted, “The most asked question when people looked at the drawings is ‘Where are the offices?’ but there aren’t any, this isn’t an office building, it’s here so we can better serve our residents. It’s nothing fancy, mainly publicly accessible, ADA compliant spaces for our partners, and our Human and Senior Service meetings and events. These are spaces we currently do not have, and very much need.”

Downers Grove Township saved up money over several years for the project. Supervisor Thoman noted there was no borrowing or debt involved, and that, despite having frozen or reduced the Township General Fund tax levy for the last four years, he does not anticipate any tax increases being needed due to the building.

Here we go!

We're pleased to be partnering with non-profits like DuPage Senior Citizens Council, who will use our new Township Multi-purpose Senior Center as a platform to better serve our Township Seniors. Cooperate, collaborate, coordinate!

Township Multi-use Senior Center Moves Forward | With plans approved by the Village of Downers Grove, the Township Multi-use Senior Center project has been issued a Construction Permit and will begin the active phase of construction ASAP. Supervisor Mark Thoman notes: “The issuance of the Construction Permit bring years of prep and months of pla...

Big news this week:

Construction Permits are issued, all fees are paid, and the construction bond has been posted. Stay tuned as we get under way!

What is The Township Center project?
- The Township Center is a second building specific for human, social, and senior services provided via the Township.

When does it start?
- With already incurred delays, the project is slated to begin late May/early June, with the construction season.

When will it be done?
- The project is slated to be complete early 2021.

How much did the Township have to borrow to build this project?
- The Township, due to Supervisor Office cost reductions, has saved up sufficient funds for the project without borrowing or issuing debt.

How much are our taxes going up to pay for this?
- No tax increases due to the new building are needed.

Here's the trifold brochure we've been printing up:

DG Township Multi-purpose Senior Center updated their business hours.