Brookfield is working to bring public parking to 31st Street.
At the village board’s Aug. 26 meeting, trustees approved a contract with Schaumberg-based A Lamp Concrete Contractors, Inc., for construction on a new public parking lot at 9100 31st St. in the amount of $244,449.50. A Lamp beat out four other contractors who submitted more costly bids, but the company’s bid was higher than the engineer’s estimate of $219,375. Trustees also approved a $19,100 contract with Hancock Engineering, Brookfield’s regular engineering firm, for construction engineering services on the project.
The board approved both contracts as part of the meeting’s omnibus agenda, meaning trustees did not consider or discuss the items on their own.
The new parking lot’s location has already been fenced off to prepare for construction, which will include removing and replacing the concrete curb and gutter, sidewalks and driveway aprons as well as the drainage structure. A new aggregate base and asphalt will go in at the lot alongside new fencing and lighting. There will also be new landscaping for any areas that were disturbed during construction.
The property at 9100 31st St. used to house FJS Automotive, a mechanic shop, but the store closed last November. Its former owners, Frank J. Siblik and Judy Anne Siblik, transferred the land’s title to Brookfield in August 2023 in exchange for $10, according to a quitclaim deed included in agenda documents from the meeting.
According to another document, Brookfield had applied for a grant for the construction from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, but it did not issue one to the village “due to environmental issues.” Still, Brookfield officials hope the new parking lot could become “an example of a high-quality parking lot that meets [Brookfield]’s design guidelines.”
First steps toward a green parking lot
Brookfield is also working to improve parking elsewhere in town.
At the same meeting, village trustees approved an intergovernmental agreement with the MWRD for a cost-sharing partnership for construction work and other services related to the renovation of the public parking lot at 3840 Maple Ave., which will see it transformed into a green parking lot with permeable pavers. The agreement was on the omnibus agenda.
According to agenda documents, the parking lot “predates 2007” and is past the “recommended average” of 15 years of use for a parking lot before that lot is reconstructed. Work on the lot will include constructing “aggregate storage” underneath it to meet Brookfield’s and the MWRD’s requirements, a new curb around the lot perimeter, new concrete driveway aprons and permeable brick pavers as the main pavement for the lot.
A rain garden could also come to the parking lot, which is located just south of the Brookfield Water Tower and Maple North Park.
The same documents show construction is estimated to cost $400,000 in total. The MWRD will provide $181,600 to the village as part of its Green Infrastructure Partnership Program, leaving Brookfield to cover the remaining $218,400.
