Wayside Cross Ministries is looking to build a Youth Activity Center on a site near St. Olaf Church in Montgomery.
The Montgomery Village Board will get a look at the project on Monday night.
Wayside Cross was founded in downtown Aurora in June 1928, on the cusp of the Great Depression, to help those in need. Wayside’s vision of providing spiritual and material help to the poor has slowly expanded over the decades to includes missions for the imprisoned, the homeless, single mothers, underserved youth and those addicted to drugs or alcohol.
The proposed 12,445-square-foot Youth Activity Center would feature an indoor basketball court and four classrooms for after school programs for underserved youth that would teach life skills and assist with academic and religious education, according to village of Montgomery documents.
It would serve young people from Montgomery as well as Aurora, offering homework help, tutoring, cooking and
technology classes, as well as instructional sports and sports leagues.
The site would serve students from 5 to 17 years old, with approximately 35 participants at a time in after school programs and 70 in summer camps, according to the documents, with most students being transported to the site by the organization’s passenger vans.
The proposed facility would go on a currently 7.7-acre property that includes the church at 1233 Douglas Ave. The plan is to divide the property into two lots of approximately equal size, according to village documents, with one lot containing the existing church and the other housing the youth center.
Wayside Cross wants to purchase the property from St. Olaf Church on which the youth center would be built.
For the project, Wayside is seeking rezoning of the property from single-family residential to neighborhood commercial, a special use to allow for indoor recreation and a few variances.
The Montgomery Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday reviewed the proposal, and in split votes recommended approval of the rezoning, special use and variances to the Village Board.
A number of residents have raised concerns about the project, questioning if it is the right fit for the neighborhood.
Judy Pochel is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
