Elk Grove Park District submits $2 million offer to buy township property

A potential day care and language school appears to be the front-runner to get an Elk Grove Township building on Chelmsford Lane in Elk Grove Village, but the park district has submitted formal bids to buy the land.

The land in the 700 block of Chelmsford Lane is on sale because Elk Grove Township wants to downsize to one property. The township is in the process of swapping the land with the village in exchange for property used by the public works department at 600 Landmeier Road. When the land swap is finalized, the village plans to sell the property.

The park district submitted a $2 million offer to the village last week to buy the entire six-acre property, which includes a four-acre green space and a building occupied by the township's day care center and offices for Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider. It also turned in a separate $900,000 bid for the four acres of green space, which the park district has been using for soccer fields and playgrounds.

If the park district takes ownership of the entire property, it would likely raze the building to clear room for more park space, Park District Executive Director Tom Busby said.

However, it appears a group of Bulgarian-American educators will get the office building. Little Bulgarian School, which uses facilities in Northwest Suburban High School District 214, and other partners have submitted a letter of intent to buy the property. The group wants to offer day care and language classes for the community, organizer Jivka Petrova said.

When the township asked voters to approve selling the land earlier this year, many residents opposed to the plan because were concerned about the day care leaving town. Petrova said the school would help serve the community by accepting day care payment vouchers the township plans to offer in lieu of owning and contracting a day care operator.

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said selling the building to the education group and the open land to the park district is the best option for the community.

"To us, it's a win-win situation," he said. "Everyone gets what they need."