Elgin News Digest: West Dundee closes on $7 million deal to purchase of Spring Hill Mall; Elgin resident announced as winner of National Merit Scholarship; volunteers sought for Fox River cleanup being held Saturday in Elgin

West Dundee closes on $7 million deal to purchase of Spring Hill Mall

The village of West Dundee has closed on a deal to buy Spring Hill Mall from Kohan Retail Investment Group of Great Neck, New York, for $7 million.

It was the last of three purchases of mall space finalized by the village in its plan to redevlop the site for multiple uses. Last year, the West Dundee Village Board approved buying the former Sears anchor store from Hoffman Estates-based Transformco for $1.95 million and the former Macy’s anchor store from Macy’s for $1.21 million.

While the 44-year-old shopping center closed to the public on March 22, the Kohl’s anchor store and Cinemark movie theaters remain open.

Later this spring, fencing will be placed around most of the mall’s parking lot in advance of having the mall demolished later in the year, a process that could take six months, according to a village news release.

“The village’s aim is to bring simplicity to the (redevelopment) process so that reliable developers with established track records will be interested in partnering to reformat the area,” Village President Chris Nelson said in the release. “Without municipal intervention, that simply won’t happen.”

Elgin resident announced as winner of National Merit Scholarship

Claire K. O’Brien-Dull, an Elgin resident, is among the winners announced in the first round of scholarships awarded in 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

O’Brien-Dull, a student at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, is the recipient of the National Merit Omron Scholarship. She plans to pursue a career in physics.

About 770 high school seniors were named winners of corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 94 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations, a news release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation said.

There are two more rounds of scholarships that will be announced in the next few weeks.

Students selected as winners advanced to the finalist level in the scholarship competition and met the criteria of their scholarship sponsors. They entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The program’s semifinalists, which were the highest-scoring program entrants of each state, represent less than 1% of the nation’s seniors.

Mike Danahey / The Courier-News

A Fox River cleanup event sponsored by state Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, and Friends of the Fox River will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in Elgin. (Mike Danahey/The Courier-News)

Volunteers sought for Fox River cleanup being held Saturday in Elgin

A Fox River cleanup event sponsored by state Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, and Friends of the Fox River will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 4, starting at the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin.

While the Friends nonprofit group will provide water and snacks and have some supplies on hand, volunteers are asked to bring gloves, tools and plastic shopping bags or buckets to help collect garbage, a news release said. They also should dress for the weather and protect themselves from sun, poison ivy and insects by wearing long sleeves, pants and closed-toe shoes that can get muddy.

Milkweed seeds donated by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago will be available for participants. Milkweed plants provide food for migrating monarch butterflies.

For more information, call 847-841-7130 or go to friendsofthefoxriver.org/event/fox-river-cleanup-with-representative-anna-moeller.

 

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