County leaders discuss major, multipurpose venue
By REGAN FOSTER - rfoster@nwherald.com
WOODSTOCK - McHenry County College’s campus and the roughly 150 acres that surround it were among the locations floated Wednesday for a multipurpose venue that could include a baseball stadium, a convention center and fairgrounds.
And if such a venue site is to be built, there’s no time to waste, a group of business, governmental and environmental leaders agreed. About 30 county residents and administrators gathered Wednesday for a roundtable discussion on the possibility of building a multi-purpose campus somewhere in McHenry County.
Exactly what that campus could entail, how much it would cost and where it would be located have yet to be seen.
But all the participants - who represented the McHenry County Board, McHenry County Conservation District, private businesses, McHenry County Economic Development Corporation, county fair, and sports teams - agreed there is a need to combine both efforts and resources to build a community campus in McHenry County.
“Our county, as large as its grown ... needs one place, a multi-purpose center,” County Board member Barb Wheeler said, to nods and murmurs of agreement. The Crystal Lake Republican arranged the meeting after such a facility was proposed by Bull Valley arts advocate Peter Benkendorf.
County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake, told participants the discussion was not designed to stifle any existing proposals or facilities, but to fill the county's other needs.
"There's no plan that's probably too small, and there's no plan that's probably too big," Koehler said. "We need to provide these types of venues in McHenry County."
