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Village Hall 70 E. Main Street Lake Zurich, IL 60047 847-438-5141 LakeZurich.org
Offices are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
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Upcoming Village Meetings
Monday, November 19
Village Hall 7:00 pm
Fire & Police Commission
Tuesday, November 20
Police Department 5:00 pm
Cancelled
Planning & Zoning Commission
Wednesday, November 21
Village Hall 7
:00 pm
Rescheduled to November 28
Planning & Zoning Commission
Wednesday, November 28
Village Hall 7:00 pm
Village Board
Monday, December 3
Village Hall 7:00 pm
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Village Officials
Village President
Tom Poynton
Trustees
Jim Beaudoin
Jonathan Sprawka
John Shaw
Marc Spacone
Greg Weider
Mary Beth Euker
Village Clerk
Kathleen Johnson
Village Manager
Ray Keller
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...the Growth and Evolution of "Downtown" Lake Zurich?
Over the next several weeks, "What's Happening With....?" will be focusing on what is commonly referred to as "Downtown Lake Zurich", with the intersection of Main Street and Old Rand Road serving as its center.
This series will look at four specific periods in the Village's development:
*Pre-Expansion (1950-1970)
*Expansion (1970-2000)
*Post-Expansion (2000-present)
*What the future of Main Street may be
This edition of Benchmarks will take a look at the pre-expansion years of the 1950s and 1960s, before Lake Zurich experienced "suburban" growth in the following decades.
In 1950, Lake Zurich still retained many characteristics of its earlier years: a small community with a permanent population of 850 that grew when vacationers returned each summer to enjoy the lakeside resorts and recreation opportunities. Rand Road and Route 22 had not yet expanded, and, according to former Mayor Henry Paulus, Route 22 would not see its first subdivision until 1969.
Main Street and Old Rand Road - previously known as "Paine Street" - provided sufficient businesses to serve the small year-round community, the surrounding farmlands and the summertime vacationers.
A Pictorial History of Ela Township depicts Main Street hosting a collection of retail, banking, and lodging businesses that came and went through the early 1970s. At any given point in time, there were approximately 20-30 service businesses in operation including printers, auto repair, barber shops, banks, two gas stations, a radio and TV repair shop and a post office.
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| Areal view of Main Street/Old Rand Road. Note the significant changes on the northwest and southeast corners, while the structures on opposing corners remain viable businesses today (Offbeat Music, Craving Gryos, My-Flavorite-Place). Date unknown. |
Retail businesses also provided products to the local community, including a drug store, pet shop, a Hallmark Shop, clothing store, and a patio furniture business. Several restaurants also existed at various times during this period, and at least two hotels were also located here.
Several businesses from this time are still around today, including Johnny's Shoe Repair, Lake Zurich Florist and Gifts, DePiero's Pizzeria, and the Koffee Kup.
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Former pet shop and Rexall Drugstore, now home of Johnny's Shoe Repair, 8 North Old Rand and Craving Gyros, 2 East Main Street.
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| Formerly Giese's Department Store at 16 E Main Street, this location has seen several occupants over the years and remains a prime business space today. |
South of the Main Street area, several manufacturing facilities operated and at any given time employed over 400 individuals.
These industrial businesses included Dearborn Chemical, R. A. Briggs and Company, Eclipse Manufacturing, and the Park Rubber Company. These industries eventually moved elsewhere, taking their employees out of walking distance from the Main Street businesses.
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| Dearborn Chemical Company, 1971 |
As will be seen in the next edition of What's Happening With....?, the suburban development growth expanding from Chicago and its older inner-ring suburbs would reach Lake Zurich in the 1970s, resulting in substantial changes to the demographic, geographic, cultural, and economic landscape of the area.
While the Main Street area had served the community for the better part of a century, the shift toward auto-oriented suburban commercial development would reorient the community's focus toward Rand Road and away from the "old" heart of the community.
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