Todd Wessell

Des Plaines

Editor of the Journal & Topics Newspapers since 1976, publisher since 2003. Graduate of Illinois State Univ. Majored in pol science.

Featured in: Favicon

journal-topics.com Favicon

ourcommunitynow.com Favicon

newspub.live

Articles

Workshop Airs Concerns About Fisherman’s Dude Ranch Redevelopment

6 days ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

Fisherman's Dude Ranch in he 1960s. Residents and business owners who may be affected by a proposal to redevelop the former Fisherman’s Dude Ranch property on the south side of Golf Road near East River Road learned more about the plan last Tuesday night in Des Plaines City Hall. The purpose of the workshop, hosted by the Des Plaines Planning and Zoning Board, was to allow the public to hear details and view renderings of the large proposal. No action was taken. The planning and zoning b...
New Des Plaines Restauranteurs Want To Maintain Building’s Historical Charm

1 week ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

Oliveti's restaurant site on Ellinwood Street in downtown Des Plaines. The owners of the planned new eatery at the location of the former Oliveti’s restaurant in downtown Des Plaines, say they want to keep the more than century-old brick structure but make substantial improvements to the building’s interior and exterior.
Auto Parts Store To Take Over Hobby Lobby Spot At Dempster-Elmhurst Roads

1 week ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

An O’Reilly Auto Parts store and parts warehouse will occupy later this year the 30,000 sq. ft. site of the former Hobby Lobby store on Elmhurst Road north of Dempster Street in Mount Prospect. For the last several months interior remodeling of the space has been underway. According to Jason Shallcross, Mount Prospect’s director of Community Development, opening of the store is anticipated by the end of September. Shallcross said the new location will serve as a hub for O’Reilly stores in the a...
Record Crowd Turns Out For Annual Des Plaines Grave U.S. Flag Placements

2 weeks ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

Members of the Maine South and Maine West football teams participated in Saturday's flag placement. (Journal Photo)An estimated 400 people attended the annual placement of small U.S. flags at the gravesites of American military veterans at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines Saturday morning. The turnout was the best ever for the event, according to organizer Kevin O’Connell of the Sons of the American Legion. Each participant was given a handful of miniature flags to place at the gravesites of ...
Rosemont Moving Forward To Buy Office Bldg. Adjacent To Former Village Hall

2 weeks ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

6400 Shafer Ct. building with former Rosemont Village Hall at far left. The village of Rosemont last week agreed to purchase a 7-story, 179,000 sq. ft. office building that’s just south of the former village hall at 6400 Shafer Court. According to Mayor Brad Stephens, Bradford Allen, a Chicago-based national commercial real estate firm, recently approached the village about working together to acquire the building. The property has been owned by a financial institution having obtained ownership ...
Des Plaines Rejects Plan For Truck Terminal At Rand Road, Miner Street

2 weeks ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

A proposal to redevelop the former Wheels, Inc. car management property in Des Plaines with a total 158,692 sq. ft. industrial building with 30 truck stalls, was soundly rejected by city council Monday night. Building a large truck terminal/warehouse facility on one of Des Plaines’ heavily-traveled gateways is not the proper use of the 17.9 acre tract, aldermen felt. LPC Acquisition Company, LLC was asking the city to rezone some of the property from Office/Commercial to Manufacturing. Plans ca...
Large Development Under Consideration For O’Hare Lakes Complex

2 weeks ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

(Ed. Note: If you like stories like this one, subscribe to the Journal & Topics to get your daily or weekly dose of local news. Visit journal-topics.com or call 847-299-5511. Print or online.)Aerial view of O'Hare Lakes looking north. During the last two decades major proposals to redevelop one of Des Plaines’ most desirable pieces of property -- the O’Hare Lakes office complex -- have come and gone. They included construction of a casino in the years before Rivers Casino opened, and a mass...
Arlington Heights Panel Set To Discuss More On Public Art May 21

1 month ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

Members of the Arlington Heights Arts Commission will begin to delve into possible new public art projects when they meet in village hall on Wednesday, May 21. The eight-member commission is following up on a suggestion made at an April meeting of the village board to expand and create new art projects in Arlington Heights in order to enhance the community’s beauty and cultural opportunities. Members on April 16 conducted preliminary discussions on the proposal to expand public art. According t...
Public Meeting May 27 On Proposal For Former Fisherman’s Dude Ranch Property

1 month ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

Crews disassembled and hauled away the memorable trout sign for Fisherman's Dude Ranch on Golf Road several years ago. The sign was sold to Mad Dan's Restaurant in Twin Lakes, WI, where it will advertise their popular fish fry. Thirty-five years ago, a proposal surfaced to construct a major residential development consisting of two, 33-story tall condominium buildings on the then Fisherman’s Dude Ranch property along Golf Road near East River Road in unincorporated Des Plaines. That project, how...
9/11 ‘Tunnel To Towers’ Exhibit Will Receive Escort In Rosemont; Free Public Tours May 9-10

1 month ago | journal-topics.com | Todd Wessell

A special escort of the “Tunnel to Towers” 9/11 mobile exhibit will take place on Wednesday, May 7 as it winds its way from Rosemont’s Allstate Arena to the village’s entertainment district. Residents of Rosemont and employees of local businesses are invited to welcome the “Tunnel to Towers” 9/11 mobile exhibit along the route. The tractor-trailer exhibit truck is scheduled to depart from the Allstate Arena at about 12:30 p.m. and proceed on Mannheim Road to Higgins Road. Then it will turn left...