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It is with great sadness that the Village of Schaumburg announces the death of its longest-serving former Schaumburg Village President, Al Larson, who passed away March 19, 2024, at the age of 85.
As Schaumburg’s longest serving mayor from 1987 to 2019 and 12 years as trustee for a combined total of 44 years of continuous service on the Village Board, Larson led many signature development projects that have significantly raised Schaumburg’s profile locally and nationally, helped spur marked growth within the village and contributed to the village’s overall quality of life.
“The Village of Schaumburg has lost a legend,” said Schaumburg Village President Tom Dailly, who served as Village Trustee under Larson for over 25 years.
“Al Larson instilled in me that Schaumburg should always strive to be more than bricks and mortar, blacktop, and concrete. Al was and always will be synonymous with Schaumburg and the progress he created. I will miss his mentorship, his charisma, and, most importantly his drive for Schaumburg to always reach new heights. There is no one who loved this village more than he did, and Al will always be my Mayor of Schaumburg.”
Village Manager Brian Townsend, who first met Larson in 1993 as an intern with the village, said there was no Mayor more skilled, savvy, or successful than Larson was in Schaumburg.
“Al was a visionary – someone who always saw the bigger picture – and saw great potential in the Village of Schaumburg,” said Townsend. “His loss will be deeply felt by those who knew him and those like me who had the privilege of working with him. His enormous impact on the village he loved so dearly will be felt for generations to come.”
A graduate of William Rainey Harper College in Palatine with an Associate in Science, Larson moved his family to Schaumburg in the late 1960s. He was appointed as the Village of Schaumburg's Public Relations Director in 1973 and a member of the village's first Environmental Committee by former Mayor Bob Atcher that same year. In 1974, he was appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals and was named Chairman of the Environmental Committee.
Larson began his political tenure in Schaumburg in 1975 as a three-term Village Trustee. Often considered an independent voice on the Village Board, he reintroduced and revitalized the concept of a Schaumburg Historic District to aid in the preservation of historic buildings while creating design and sign standards for the original crossroads of the village. Shortly after its adoption by the Village Board, the Olde Schaumburg Centre Historic District was established.
As one of the founders of the Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, a 135-acre natural area preserved for all time from development, Larson received the 1976 Environmental Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for his efforts on behalf of Spring Valley. He was one of only two local elected officials to receive the award.
After 12 years as a Village Trustee, Larson was elected to his first of eight terms as Village President in 1987. Beginning in the early 1990s, Schaumburg experienced marked growth and development in the retail, residential and commercial sectors.
In 1994, Larson spearheaded the initiative for the village to acquire the privately-owned Schaumburg Airpark as a public airfield to preserve it as an asset for aviation, transportation, and long-range economic development. Today, the Schaumburg Regional Airport generates a total economic impact for the region of about $34 million annually.
In 1995, Larson led the village's acquisition of Town Square Shopping Center to refocus its image as a vital component in reestablishing a true "downtown" for the Village of Schaumburg. He also personally initiated dialogue between the Schaumburg Park District and Schaumburg Township District Library to ensure their buy-in as part of this redevelopment. In addition to several retail stores and restaurants, Town Square is now home to the library and the Trickster Cultural Center; both are regional destinations for cultural programs and resources.
Larson’s penchant for building collaborative relationships with local governmental partners was never more evident than during the complex negotiations to bring professional baseball to Schaumburg. After successfully brokering a cooperative partnership between the village and the Schaumburg Park District to build a baseball stadium, Larson and the Village of Schaumburg unveiled the new Schaumburg Baseball Stadium and welcomed the independent Northern League Schaumburg Flyers for the start of the 1999 season. The stadium, now known as Wintrust Field and home to the Frontier League’s Schaumburg Boomers since 2012, has had the four highest single game attendances in franchise history all in 2023, the highest overall attendance in franchise history, and finished 2023 as the third highest attendance in all the four MLB Partner Leagues.
"I strongly believe in consensus building," said Larson when describing his leadership skills in a 2015 Daily Herald candidate profile. "I share my concerns, ideas, and suggestions with my fellow board members. No Mayor can get things done alone. Listening to and heeding the advice of my fellow board members is essential to achieving our common goals."
At the dawn of the new millennium, Larson oversaw the village’s acquisition of a previously under productive tract of land on Schaumburg’s northeast side that in 2006 would become the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, which contributes approximately $43 million annually to the local economy.
A champion of local arts, Mayor Larson broadened cultural programming in Schaumburg by helping launch the annual Prairie Arts Festival, a renowned juried art fair held for more than 30 years on the grounds of the Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center and boasting more than 100 participating artisans.
He also initiated efforts to develop a theatre workshop for young people that led to annual summer youth musicals, promoted development of the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra, and pushed for the establishment of a youth ballet troupe that led to the founding of the Schaumburg Dance Ensemble. In recognition of his achievements in the arts, the Prairie Center was renamed the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts in his honor in 2017.
Even after his tenure as Village President concluded in 2019, Mayor Dailly immediately appointed Larson to the village’s 1% for Art Committee and Cultural Commission where he continued to serve until his passing.
In February 2020, Larson donated $20,000 to the Prairie Center Arts Foundation to fund the Young Artist Assistance Program, a tuition assistance program created to provide opportunities for young musicians, singers, and dancers.
Among the numerous boards and commissions Larson served on during his tenure included terms as Past President and Vice President of the Illinois Municipal League, Past President of the Northwest Municipal Conference, member of the Northwest Municipal Conference Executive Board, Past Chair of Northwest Municipal Conference Transportation Committee, PACE Board of Directors, Board Member of Arts Alliance Illinois, Chair of Joint Action Water Agency, member of O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, Board of Directors of the Illinois Public Airports Association, and member of the Chicago Area Transportation Study Executive Board, Council of Mayors, and Transportation Infrastructure and Services Steering Committee for the National League of Cities. He also served on the 15-member Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and its Executive Committee, charged with integrating land use and transportation planning for the 7-county area of northeastern Illinois. In addition, Larson co-chaired the STAR Line Steering Committee.
Arrangements are pending and can be found on the village's website once available.
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