Historic Storms Hall to be demolished
By Julie Rossman
Correspondent
With recent approval from the Union Grove Village Board and the Community Development Authority to allow McDonald’s to build a restaurant at 835 15th Avenue (Highway 11), the historic Storms Hall will be demolished to make way for the new addition to Union Grove.
Storms Hall, which opened in 1922, served as a dormitory for the Racine-Kenosha County Teachers College, which was housed in the building directly to the west, now home to the Union Grove Municipal Building.
In the March 28 edition of the Westine Report, watch for community reaction to McDonald’s coming to Union Grove. Then, in two weeks, look for a story about the history of Storms Hall from the perspective of community members who were both elementary and college students at the teachers college.
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I think it’s great to finally get something to move into Union Grove. Hoping for a WALGREENS next!!
Yes, but does an historic building have to come down? There are communities that design the new as part of the old and they create a much nicer vibe. Union Grove doesn’t have too many gracious looking buildings. You will look like every other corner of the cheap world when you could make them use what you have. It can be done.
you may be right, however; the communities that use the old to design the new also normally have the same “vibe” throughout the community (like Long Grove, IL). Union Grove is not that place. People continue to complain that “there is nothing here” and continue to eat and shop outside of this area. Maybe more thought should be put into how to make the area “thrive”. It is possible that it is simply not very cost effective to restore a building like that, especially when no one shows any interest in restoring it. If it takes a couple of “chain” or “big box” stores to help an area, there is nothing wrong with moving forward. As I said, it would be different if there were people interested in creating an “historic” feel to the entire area, but that is not the case. Sometimes you just have to move forward if and when the opportunity presents itself.