Orland Park to reopen Village Hall to public on June 1
Village also moving forward with Fourth of July plans
ORLAND PARK, Ill.
As businesses have begun the process of reopening in a limited capacity, the Village of Orland Park also is opening back up its doors to the public.
The Village announced earlier this week that it intends to reopen the Frederick T. Owens Village Hall on Monday, June 1. Those who enter the building, located at 14700 Ravinia Ave., will be asked to wear masks inside and enter and exit through designated doors. Social distancing recommendations also are being requested.
Mayor Keith Pekau, when reached by phone on Thursday, May 28, said the plan has always been to reopen Village Hall once certain benchmarks in the state were hit. As such, the Village created a plan to address how it would reopen once that time came.
“Just like our reopening plan for our businesses, we’ve been thinking ahead,” Pekau said. “We had a plan, and everyone came back — no more teleworking as of last week. So, it makes sense to open the doors of the Village Hall, too.”
As part of Village Hall reopening, all Village committee and board meetings will once again allow in-person attendance — albeit with social distancing and reduced seating capacity in the board room.
One thing will be different inside of Village Hall when it reopens on June 1, however, as the Illinois Secretary of State has vacated the building.
Pekau said the move is a permanent one.
“Because of the social distancing [requirements], they decided to vacate from here,” he said.
The mayor said it was the Village’s understanding that the Secretary of State was looking at other locations in Orland Park to relocate, but no official spot has been given yet.
Fourth of July plans still moving forward
In addition to Village Hall reopening, Orland Park also announced that it intends to move forward with its Fourth of July activities this summer.
“We’ve been preparing ahead of time for everything,” Pekau said. “When you prepare ahead for things, you can do things.”
Pekau used the Memorial Day ceremony the Village hosted on May 25 as an example.
“We took a lot of grief for the Memorial Day ceremony, but we were still able to have it instead of canceling it,” he said. “We can adapt our plans as need be, but the Fourth of July is an important holiday for the United States, and we’re going to have it. If it is modified somewhat, we’ll modify it.”
He also said the Village is preparing for several scenarios regarding the Fourth of July celebrations, but that the hope right now is to hold the event as normally programmed.
As part of the celebration, the Village plans to move forward with the scheduled concert at Centennial Park and fireworks starting at 9:30 p.m.