Commercial developer Paul Lynch took another step forward Monday in his plan to build a Holiday Inn Express hotel on Oregon's south side. The Oregon Village Board approved a rezoning request for the 1056 Park St. property, along with Lynch's general development and specific implementation plans.
It would be the first hotel built in Oregon, and officials say it would be a boon to economic development on the village's south side, where a new Tax Incremental Finance District has been established.
The 69-room hotel, along with a smaller commercial building, is planned to be built on 2.8 acres between Park Street and Concord Drive. The 45,000-square-foot hotel will feature an indoor swimming pool, a 1,000-square-foot meeting room, a game arcade and a breakfast area for guests. An 82-stall parking lot will be built on the site, and in a second phase of development, a 4,400-square-foot building that could house a restaurant would be built, along with 21 parking stalls.
Lynch will apply for financial assistance from the village's new Tax Incremental Finance District and hopes to break ground on the project this summer. The project "will contribute substantial increment" to the new TIF district, according to village planner Mike Slavney, of Vandewalle & Associates Inc.
A hotel room tax would be an added benefit of the project. A percentage of the tax revenue would be used by the village to promote tourism.
Village administrator Mike Gracz said village officials, in conjunction with the Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce, would consider establishing a tourism commission to oversee how the tax revenue would be divvied up and used.
Bike/pedestrian path plan pleases Wisco
The Village Board decided Monday to build a 10-foot-wide bicycle/pedestrian path along the south side of Braun Road when the road is extended from North Market Street to the railroad tracks next spring. The road and path will connect with a section of Braun Road and a pathway in the Alpine Business Park adjacent to the Trachte assembly facility.
Village officials began working with representatives of Wisco Industries Inc. in February to plan the extension of the road and the construction of the new path. Initially, they planned to build the path along the north side of Braun Road, but Wisco officials said they'd rather see the path built on the south side of Braun Road, due to "safety and stormwater concerns." Their production plant is on the north side of Braun Road.
On Monday, Gary Kjellstrom, president of Wisco Industries Inc., and Gene Qualmann, vice-president of administration and human resources, met with the Village Board and praised village officials for their cooperation and willingness to meet face-to-face and alter their plans.
Village seeks urban service area amendment
The board authorized village officials to request the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission to amend the village's urban service area so that leaders of the First Presbyterian Church can have a nine-acre parcel annexed into the village of Oregon and proceed with plans to build a new church on the west side.
Church officials are hoping to break ground this year on a new 28,000-square-foot church to serve a congregation of about 350.
"We'd be doing it in a phased scenario," church elder Steve Jenson told the Observer in February. The first two phases of the project would amount to a building of about 14,000 square feet, he said.
Jenson, head of First Presbyterian's building committee, said the present church building, at 172 N. Main St. in downtown Oregon, is becoming too small for the growing congregation.
If the regional planning commission approves the urban service area amendment, as officials expect, the village would annex the church's nine acres so that the church could use village utilities such as water and sewer.
