Glenview experienced a wide range of news events during 2024, from a tragic auto accident to multiple development projects downtown.
In the first four months of the year, Glenview government agencies announced they were awarded $3.3 million in state grants.
The Glenview Park District received a $2.8 million state grant to enhance Splash Landings indoor aquatics center at Park Center, and the village of Glenview got a $500,000 grant to help fund the renovation of its Public Works Campus.
The aquatic center project includes updating pool finishes, adding new mechanical systems that allow for the activity pool and lap pool temperatures to be controlled separately, and introducing features such as a retractable ninja course in the lap pool and a replacement play feature in the activity pool, the Park District said.
The public works grant will ensure the village has enough road salt on the coldest days of winter, officials said.
“We’re really excited about the campus project,” said Public Works Director Joe Kenney. “It’s coming up on 40 years old so there’s a lot of maintenance needs here and we’ve been working with the board and the public for a few years. It’s come together for a project this year.”
In March, much-ballyhooed plans to build a state-of-the-art $141 million processing facility to produce cultivated meat at the vacant Allstate Campus site in Glenview were put on hold, officials said.
In 2023, California-based Upside Foods announced it had reached a deal to open an 187,000-square-foot processing facility on the Dermody Logistics Campus, the former headquarters of Allstate Insurance Co. on Sanders Road in Glenview.
But Upside Foods said that after careful consideration it is delaying the project and did not say when it will proceed.
May was filled with a variety of news for Glenview residents.
The village was stunned by a late-night car accident that killed Glenbrook South High School senior Marko Niketic. Community members created a memorial near the crash site, in the 1200 block of East Lake Avenue.
Taeyoung Kim, 21, of Northbrook, was charged with several felonies, including multiple counts of aggravated driving under the influence and reckless homicide, along with numerous traffic citations.
Kim and two others were also injured in the accident.
On May 13, Endeavor Health opened its new 170,000-square-foot Cardiovascular Institute on its Glenbrook Hospital campus at 2100 Pfingsten Road.
The $170 million, three-story facility serves as a central destination for heart and vascular patients in the north region of Endeavor Health, officials said.
Its cardiovascular services include clinical cardiology, diagnostic testing, elective cardiac and vascular surgeries, catheterizations, structural heart procedures, electrophysiology studies, women’s cardiology, sports cardiology, cardio-oncology, and wellness and prevention, they said.
On May 24, federal authorities announced they charged a California man with allegedly defrauding a Glenview resident out of $2 million during 2023.
Raymond Echavez Villamor, 60, of Newport Beach, California, was charged with five counts of wire fraud in an indictment returned in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois said.
According to details of the indictment, Villamor operated a company called Rainbowork, LLC. Over six months, Villamor “fraudulently solicited, obtained, and retained an investment of approximately $2 million from an individual residing in Glenview, Ill.,” the indictment said.
In June, Glenview Summer Fest welcomed thousands of residents and families during the 125th birthday week of the village.
Vendors and attendees got the chance to commemorate the celebration with special games, swag, and giveaways linked to the history of the town and the success of Summer Fest, now in its 48th year.
The festival took place along two village blocks of Lehigh Avenue, from Glenview Road to Washington Street. Eighty-five vendors participated.
In November, voters in Glenview School District 34 soundly rejected a referendum proposal to increase property taxes that officials said would help fund operational expenses like educational programs, transportation and salaries.
According to the unofficial vote total reported by the Cook County Clerk’s office, 10,427 people voted against the proposal and 8,384 voted for it, a difference of 55.4 percent to 44.6 percent.
Before the vote, officials said district leaders would consider cutting non-mandated programs like music, art, gym and extracurricular activities for the 2027 school year if the measure failed.
Throughout the year, Glenview trustees offered tax incentives to attract multiple businesses to downtown, despite objections from some existing businesses and residents.
In August, the Village Board awarded a $500,000 grant to Hometown Coffee and Juice to open a new downtown cafe and restaurant. That project is expected to cost $1.6 million.
Cathy Schiltz, owner of the nearby Glenview Grind coffeehouse, said the grant is unfair and could effectively lead to the closing of her business.
Later that month, Pioneer Press reported that a stylish new Mediterranean restaurant will open in the historic Glenview House building, thanks to $2.9 million in grants and loan guarantees from the village and support from historians.
History buffs said they are happy the Glenview House is reopening after more than a year in mothballs, but cautioned the village to take action to permanently protect the historic gem in the heart of downtown.
The Village Board voted unanimously to approve a $2.9 million redevelopment agreement with “LUPOCANN2 LLC,” known as Foxtail Restaurants, to open the Mediterranean-style restaurant.
In September, trustees agreed to loan Spiro’s Deli, one of the oldest restaurants in Glenview, $500,000 to move downtown as part of a $1.25 million project.
The plan calls for the existing building at 1880 Glenview Road, most recently occupied by Best One Hour Cleaners, to be demolished. The new 1,400-square-foot building will have a deli counter, seating for 25 patrons and a small outdoor patio.
In December, the board gave Smoque BBQ a $750,000 loan to convert an auto repair shop into a 3,500-square-foot restaurant at Waukegan Road and Grove Street, although some residents questioned whether the plan is a sound and wise use of the money.
The redevelopment package calls for Smoque to repay the loan with sales tax revenues spread over 10 years. Glenview officials have projected that Smoque will generate $831,250 in sales tax revenues during its first 10 years, which one resident said was a high estimate, and a village document says the village will net $81,250 during that time frame once Smoque repays the funds.
