Fate of Hubble Middle School Site Could Be Determined Soon

After years of discussion, it may take one more meeting to decide how the former Hubble Middle School property should be redeveloped.

"It's been a long, deliberative process," said Liz Corry, councilwoman and head of the Hubble Steering Committee.

The committee has not yet scheduled a meeting, though City Manager Don Rose said he expects it will probably take place sometime next month. The meeting will be public and the committee will finalize discussion regarding land-use issues. Further, Rose said the public will have an opportunity to voice comments regarding the committee's decision in what most likely will be a "workshop format" meeting. 

On July 26, S.B. Friedman & Co., a development consulting firm retained last year by the City Council, made a presentation which proposed possible uses for the Hubble site. These were: a big box retail, grocery/entertainment, mixed use, and residential. According to Rose, the committee has come to a "general consensus" that the mixed use option would be most desirable.

However, more than 18 acres of the 27-acre property are on a floodplain area, leaving just under nine buildable acres.

Residents in Wheaton have been concerned with the future of the site because of its location at the "gateway" to downtown Wheaton, on the southeast corner of Roosevelt Road and Main Street. The building was the original Wheaton High School before its time as the Hubble Middle School. Many  longtime Wheaton residents have a sentimental attachment to it.

Rosemary Swanson, vice president of the District 200 school board and member of the Hubble Steering Committee, said, "It's important emotionally…It's been around (for a long time)…People are attached and don't want to see just anything (there)."

Rose added that while the committee may recommend an option for future land use, the Council and School Board need to decide whether now is the right time to do a request for proposals to developers.

"The economy is so bad that there probably aren't any likely developers for the site at this point," he said "Is the interest on anybody's party to do anything at this time?"

Swanson said that the committee is looking at the long run for Hubble, rather than a quick, one-time sale.

"People recognize that this land has the ability to drive development in the rest of downtown Wheaton," she said.

School District 200, which owns the property, joined with the city to decide on the best use of the land because the city will make the decisions on zoning. While District 200 will sell the land, the City Council invested $300,000 in fees to development consultant S.B. Friedman. District 200 will pay that back to the city when the site is sold.

After the preferred land use is selected, the Friedman firm will help prepare a request for proposals from developers.

The Hubble Steering Committee was originally formed in 2003 to decide where to move the students because the building had become too expensive and outdated to operate, according to Corry. Students moved to the new Hubble Middle School at 3S600 Herrick Road in Warrenville. Back then, the committee had more than 30 members, Corry said. Now, the committee has shrunk to 12 members including representation from the City Council, the School Board, Park District and taxpayers.

The request for proposal will be a "very specific document so that it's broad enough—but specific enough," so that when it is sent to developers, there is an idea of how to redevelop the property, Corry said.

"The last thing you want to do is put something out there that the developer community doesn't respond to because there is no market," she said.

Corry said the market for development will eventually revive.

"Right now there's nearly no development going on anywhere…no speculation and nobody willing to take a risk," she said.

The Park District still uses the former school site for athletic programs, and therefore the building is maintained. In August, Bill Farley, School District 200 assistant superintendent for business services, told the school board that maintenance costs approximately $300,000 per year.

Further, School Board President Andy Johnson said that demolition of the building would cost upward of $1 million, and would require extensive asbestos treatment and special permits from the City for demolition. Rose said "unless they have between $4 and $6 million dollars (to spend)," the school board probably won't demolish the building.

Corry, who lives across from Hubble on Naperville Road, said, "I want to do what's right because that's my neighborhood."

But the cost of maintaining the unused building is "a major expense to the taxpayer," she said.

The redevelopment goals set by the committee included making the property a landmark mixed-use gateway to downtown, being synergistic with the downtown, generating land value for the school district, increasing tax base through sales and property taxes, being compatible with the surrounding area and retaining open space with recreation components.