Mayor Breaks Tie, Votes to Approve Demolition for Route 59 House

The century-old Carey house has a date with the wrecking ball.

Plainfield Mayor Breaks Tie Vote, OKs Demolition for Route 59 House

The Carey family hopes they’ll have better luck selling their property without the home, which has fallen into disrepair.

Now that the Route 59 “Vision for Division” study is finished, Thomas Carey hoped to have his answer on Monday night. He got it when Mayor Mike Collins broke the village board’s tie, voting to allow his family to tear down their aging home at 14927 S. Division St. (Route 59). Carey said his mother, now age 91 and in poor health, has long been trying to sell the property. The family hopes that by demolishing the structurally unsound home, they’ll have better luck attracting a buyer. “This has been a burden for her for a long time,” Carey said, summing up his reaction to Collins’ decision in one word: “Relieved.” Opinion was split on the board of trustees, with Margie Bonuchi, Garrett Peck and Bill Lamb voting against demolition and Jim …

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Lisa S.

7:51 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Watch the papers and look for signs. Most of these houses to be demo'd, old and newer, have auctions and sales to salvage what they can to help pay for the tear down.   more ›

Village Will Reconsider Demolition for Route 59 Home

Plainfield homeowner’s son speaks out after board OKs permit to tear down another home along the same corridor.

Three months after denying — for the time being, at least — an application to demolish one aging Route 59 home, the Plainfield village board gave a local business the OK to tear down another. Village officials and staff will take another look at the proposal to tear down the property at the Jan. 14 Committee of the Whole meeting. Sign up for the Plainfield Patch newsletter. On Monday night, Thomas Carey spoke up, asking the village board why Overman-Jones Funeral Home was given approval to tear town a century-old house to accommodate additional parking, while his parents were told they have to wait to demolish their home at 14927 S. Division St./Route 59. “Another individual came before this board and was immediately granted a demolition …

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Village Nixes Demolition for One Building; OKs Major Changes for Another

New restaurant planned for downtown Plainfield; renovations could be done by November, owner says.

One Plainfield building owner got the OK to proceed with renovations on a dilapidated downtown storefront, while another was told she’ll have to hold off on demolishing an aging Route 59 home. The board voted to nix applicant Sandra Bennett’s request to demolish the home at 14927 S. Division St./Route 59 — at least for now. With the village working on shaping the future of Route 59 — including using social media and public meetings to get the public’s take on the subject — the board voted that the owner cannot demolish the property until after the Route 59 Visioning study is complete. Planner Michael Garrigan said the study is scheduled to be completed sometime this fall. “This is not a delay for the sake of a delay,” trustee Paul Fay said…

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A Town Called Plainfield

Lambert: Old School Site Tied to Village History

As developers get ready to break ground on a new 340-unit apartment complex, we explore why the building on 127th Street, east of Route 59, is significant.

The Inquiry Plainfield Patch reader Brian asked about the history of the soon-to-be-demolished former Christ Lutheran Academy building on 127th Street between Route 59 and Naperville-Plainfield Road, just east of the Walmart plaza. Construction begins Tuesday on a 340-unit apartment complex. Brian wondered if the doomed building had been built as a local high school at one time. In fact, the site of the structure is tied to three pioneering events that not only shaped the local rural neighborhood, but played a role in the development of national advances in technology. In the first of a two-part series, we set the stage. The Facts The first settlement of Wheatland Township occurred nearly a decade after the pioneer settlement at Plainfield…

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About Town

Lakeview Motel's Date with the Wrecking Ball Under Way

Demolition began Thursday on the 60-year-old business, which had been condemned after being badly damaged in a September fire.

It’s finally coming down.  The grin on Plainfield Building Official Dean Marquez's face spread from ear to ear as he watched a bulldozer rip hunks of roof from the old Lakeview Motel on Thursday morning.  “It’s been an eyesore for years,” Marquez said.  The 60-year-old Lakeview Motel, located at U.S. 30 and Renwick Road, was destroyed by a fire last September. In the days before chain motels and interstates, for that matter, it had been a mainstay of people driving cross country on the old Lincoln Highway. In recent years, however, it had become a transient motel with people booking inexpensive rooms that could be rented by the day or week. Marquez condemned the motel and all but one of its outbuildings not long after the fire and it was …

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About Town

Lakeview Motel Not Long for This World; Demolition Date Set

Fire severely damaged the 60-year-old business in September, and the owner is no longer fighting to rebuild it.

Plainfield’s only motel is scheduled for the wrecking ball.   The 60-year-old Lakewiew Motel at U.S. 30 and Renwick Road, destroyed by a fire last September, will be torn down Feb. 2, village officials say.  After condemning the motel and all its outbuildings last fall, town leaders have been in talks with the owner, Piyush Patel, about its fate. Patel has agreed to pay the demolition costs, they say.   Officials won’t be sorry to see the remains of the Lakeview go. Situated in one of Plainfield’s most hotel-friendly corridors with access to Interstate 55, many have seen the Lakeview as an eyesore since the fire.  “It should really brighten up that area,” Mayor Michael Collins said.  No word whether Patel plans to rebuild or sell. But the …

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Lakeview Motel Demolition Sought by Village Building Official

The owner of the fire-damaged motel maintains part of the building can be salvaged, but hasn't decided if he will fight the condemnation.

Whether the owner hires someone to do the work or the village does, the fire-damaged Lakeview Motel will be torn down, Plainfield Building Official Dean Marquez said Tuesday. The 19-room motel at U.S. 30 and Renwick Road was declared uninhabitable by Marquez on Sept. 24, four days after a suspicious fire broke out in an unoccupied room and quickly spread to other rooms and into the building's roof. Marquez has since condemned the building, meaning it cannot be rebuilt and must be demolished, he said. Owner Piyush Patel, however, is still weighing whether he will appeal that decision. His lawyer has told Marquez that his client believes that units at both ends of the motel can be made habitable and thus do not need to be demolished, Marquez…

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