The village of Brookfield in August obtained an order of demolition against the Brookfield Bowl, 3415 Maple Ave., and officials are in the process of getting a quote to tear down the building, the Landmark has learned.
Last week, Keith Sbiral, the village’s director of building and planning, said he was working to get a quote for the demolition in order to take that information to the village board and get direction on how to proceed.
Sbiral said he hoped to present the quote to the board on Oct. 24. If the board wishes to go ahead with the demolition, Sbiral said he would seek competitive bids for the work.
Should the board decide to demolish the building, Sbiral said that would take place “by the end of the year. We’d move quickly.”
If the village does go ahead with demolition, it would likely place a lien against the property in order to recoup the costs of demolition. It can then foreclose on the lien if the owner takes no action.
“As soon as we have the lien, we can start the process immediately,” said Sbiral. “Somehow the village has to be made whole on this. The issue is safety, not land ownership.”
Brookfield filed suit in Cook County Housing Court in April seeking a demolition order. Officials shut down the business for good in February after structural engineering reports determined that one of the building’s roof trusses had failed. The village also issued 20 code violation notices against the property.
A Cook County judge gave the village the demolition order on Aug. 17. Tim Cook, who owns Brookfield Bowl, did not appear at that court hearing and has reportedly not appealed the ruling.
In the meantime, Cook said last week that he doesn’t have much information on what the future holds for Brookfield Bowl.
“As of right now, nothing has changed,” said Cook. “The odds of it becoming a bowling alley again are probably slim.”
Cook has been wrangling with his insurance carrier for months regarding their payout of his claim regarding the roof truss and repairs associated with it. Repairs will cost more than $100,000, but the insurance carrier cut a check for just $25,000.
In addition, First National Bank of Brookfield in 2008 filed a foreclosure action against the property, a suit that is still pending, although no action has been taken for more than a year.
Finally, in April a co-signor on the bank loan, Anton Cermak, filed a breach-of-contract suit against Cook seeking more than $50,000. That action followed three days after the village had filed its suit seeking a demolition order and in the wake of a suit filed by First National Bank of Brookfield in November 2010, seeking to seize $142,000 from four bank accounts belonging to a Cermak family member in order to make good on the 2003 loan for the bowling alley.
