By Vicky Wedig
Editor
The town and village of Darien are considering a site in the Darien industrial park for their new fire station and rescue squad building.
The municipalities were considering a village-owned lot in front of West Park on Madison Street near the existing fire station.
The new site being considered is on Gerry Way next to the Darien Cemetery at Highway 14 and Interstate 43 near Maxxx Motorsports.
Village Board President Kurt Zipp, who serves on the Ad Hoc Fire Station Committee, said the village-owned lot would require a significant amount of site work. He said the property sits low, and the ground level would need to be raised about two feet to make it even with the street.
“We’d have to bring in a considerable amount of fill,” he said.
Zipp said the site on Gerry Way would need less ground work, and committee members are trying to decide which lot is the best option. He said the Gerry Way site could involve some land costs whereas the village-owned site would not.
The land on Gerry Way northeast of Highway 14 was once Gerry Pelishek’s farm and is now held in a charitable remainder trust, meaning when Pelishek and his wife die, the property or any proceeds from its sale will go to a charity, which Pelishek has named but declined to reveal.
Pelishek could name the village as the beneficiary of a portion of the trust to allow the village to recoup the land costs “upon Gerry and his wife being called home,” Zipp said.
Pelishek said he’d originally talked to Darien officials about building the new fire station and new village hall in two separate buildings on Gerry Way. That proposal would have taken about four of the 23 acres left to develop in the industrial park on the east side of Highway 14, he said. With the village planning to build its new hall within the police station building and the site of the former Protect-All building on Wisconsin Street, the lot line of the proposal will need to be revised, Pelishek said.
The Ad Hoc Fire Station Committee plans to meet Sept. 18 to further discuss the options.
“No matter what site we pick, we’d like to have soil borings done and get things out to bid in fall so we’re ready to go in spring,” Zipp said.
