It appears likely that the Village of River Forest will soon be taking over ownership and management of the River Forest Civic Center building. At the July 14 meeting of the Board of Managers of the River Forest Civic Center Authority, the governmental entity that currently owns and manages the Civic Center, a two page draft for discussion, as well as some brief comments from John Becvar, the River Forest Township Supervisor who serves on the Civic Center’s Board of Managers, made clear there have been active discussions with the village about the village taking over the Civic Center, which is located at 8020 W. Madison St.
An agenda item for the meeting said, “We are actively exploring the possibility of consolidating the River Forest Civic Center Authority (RFCCA) into the co-terminus municipality, the Village of River Forest, before the end of the summer 2026.” The agenda item was designated as a “draft for discussion.”
It would require a majority vote from both the Board of Managers of the Civic Center Authority and the River Forest Village Board for the annexation by the village to take place.
“In the event that something does happen the village would take over the management of the building,” Becvar said.
No such vote has occurred but the Board of Managers of the Civic Center, which by law consists of members of the River Forest Township Board, has scheduled a special meeting for Aug. 4. Becvar declined to comment when asked by a reporter after the July 14 meeting whether there would be a vote at the Aug. 4 special meeting to authorize the village to take over the building.
“No comment; we’re not speculating,” Becvar said.
In a telephone interview with Wednesday Journal River Forest Village President Cathy Adduci declined to say specifically whether the village wants to take over the Civic Center building but did say the village board would take no action on the matter until after Civic Center Board of Managers acts.
“I can’t answer that question, it’s not ours to take over,” Adduci said. “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on anything that the Civic (Center) Authority is trying to do.”
Adduci did say the Civic Center building is a valuable asset that everyone in River Forest should want to preserve.
“We believe that’s a beautiful community asset, the Community Center and the village would love nothing (more) for it to continue to be a beloved community asset so whatever we can do, in our power, to continue that community asset to be available in our community we’re going to look at,” Adduci said.
Adduci said it is good that different units of local government are working together to preserve the building.
Last month Becvar and Keith Strom, a fellow member of the Civic Center Board of Managers, met in closed session with the River Forest village board to discuss the “purchase or lease of real property.”
Becvar says the Civic Center building, which was built in the 1950’s and acquired by a public partnership that resulted in the creation of the Civic Center Authority in 1984 to purchase the building, needs approximately $5 million in building repairs, including a new roof, in the next two or three years and perhaps $15 million by 2035 to remain open and functional. Becvar said that the Civic Center Authority does not have the money, it has only about $150,000 in reserves, to pay for the repairs and upgrades that the building needs.
“With no current ability to levy taxes or issue a bond, there is not enough to pay for the estimated $5 million in needed repairs,” the draft for discussion states. “If the authority does not have the funds to make the needed capital repairs, the building may be deemed unusable for lack of working HVAC and safety equipment. As such we are in discussions about consolidating the authority with a taxing body per Illinois statute.”
Because the Village of River Forest contributed $100,000 towards the purchase of the Civic Center building state law allows the Civic Center Authority to “consolidate the authority into a municipality.”
“The village was one of the original funders of the authority in the 1980s and has always been concerned about the future of the building,” Becvar said.
The Park District of River Forest did not contribute any money toward the purchase of the building so the Park District of River Forest could only take ownership of the building through a referendum.
Becvar and the agenda addendum said that if the village does take over the Civic Center building the current tenants of the building, which include the River Forest Community Center, would not be affected. The current leases of all tenants would all be honored but the Civic Center Authority would cease to exist. The River Forest Community Center is based in the Civic Center and is, by far, the building’s largest tenant. The Community Center operates a popular childcare program in the building and until last year managed the building even though it did not own it. Last year the Civic Center Authority wrested control of the leasing and management of the building from the Community Center and now the Park District of River Forest is in charge of maintenance at the building.
Becvar said there are no current plans to inject major amounts of money into building repairs.
“The act of consolidation will not require taxpayer dollars other the administrative and legal costs,” the agenda addendum states. “The expected building renovations in the coming years will need a revenue source, and may include village funds, grants, private donations or contributions from other taxing bodies.”