Village unveils new downtown Lombard concepts plan
More than 70 residents, business owners and property owners attended an open house on Aug. 25 to discuss development concepts for downtown Lombard.
These draft development concepts showed 13 scenarios for multiple sites within the downtown with different options for land use, site layout, building size and orientation, access, and parking. The consultant team, led by Teska Associates of Evanston, walked the audience through the scenarios and answered questions from the crowd.

Attendees provided extensive feedback on the two-hour presentation by filling out comment cards and ranking their preferred development concepts. The input received at the open house is now being used to determine which development concepts will be included in the final Downtown Plan, which will be unveiled in October.

The Downtown Plan process is scheduled to be completed in November after an open house to review the final plan in late October. Throughout the process, updates and information will be provided on the Downtown Plan Web site to keep the public informed of any upcoming events. Meeting calendars and copies of the draft plan components may be viewed online at http://www.teska associates.com/lombard/index.htm.

Following on the heels of the visioning sessions conducted by the village in 2009, the Downtown Plan is the next step to a long-term solution for downtown Lombard. With the assistance of a Community Planning Grant from the Regional Transportation Authority, the village hired a consultant team led by Teska Associates of Evanston.

In June, the Teska team sat down with 45 Lombardians to get their thoughts and ideas about issues and concerns that are facing the downtown. These focus group discussions led to the preliminary development concepts that were discussed at the open house.

For any questions related to the Downtown Plan, contact the Department of Community Development at 630-620-5749.


Main Street resurfacing now under way
The north Main Street Local Agency Pavement Preservation (LAPP) resurfacing project was set to begin yesterday.

The project will include replacement of manholes in the street, curb repairs, sidewalk repairs, roadway base patching, surface removal and replacement and new pavement markings. The project is expected to last into late November.

As the project moves forward, it may also involve daily lane closures Monday through Friday and possibly work on Saturdays. Multiple lane closures will be coordinated to maintain traffic flow. The roadway may occasionally be shut down to one lane and have alternating stop and go traffic patterns, however, two-way traffic will be maintained.

The Lombard Public Works Department thanks motorists in advance for their patience and understanding during this critical project. Expect traffic delays on Main Street during this project. If possible, consider taking alternative routes. Businesses will be open during construction and access to them will be maintained.


Willowbrook H.S. coach and teacher remembered
by Chris Fox
John Hamann, a longtime teacher and coach at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, passed away on Aug. 21 at age 67. Hamann, a Villa Park resident, spent more than three decades at Willowbrook as an industrial arts teacher. He also taught driver education and some physical education. He retired from teaching at the end of the 1999-2000 school year, but continued as Willowbrook’s boys golf coach until 2004. Hamann was the head coach of the school’s boys varsity basketball team from 1972 until 1985.

Hamann, whose parents were teachers, passed along his passion for teaching to his own children. John and Jalaine Hamann, who were married for 42 years, have three children—Jeff, Jim and Julie—all of whom graduated from Willowbrook.

Jeff is the varsity girls golf coach and the sophomore girls basketball coach at Maine South High School in Park Ridge. Jim holds the same two titles—varsity girls golf coach and sophomore girls basketball coach—at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect. Both coaches are math teachers at their respective schools. Their sister Julie is an elementary school teacher at St. Celestine School in Elmwood Park.

Hamann and his wife grew up in Grant Park, which is located in Kankakee County. He was a standout basketball player at Grant Park High School. He then attended Illinois State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. As a student teacher in Kankakee, he became acquainted with a fellow teacher who eventually went to Willowbrook. That teacher asked Hamann to come to Willowbrook. Hamann began teaching and coaching at the Villa Park school in the fall of 1966.

“He just affected thousands of lives so positively,” said Jalaine Hamann, who taught at the elementary level for several years.

Mrs. Hamann, who never missed a Willowbrook basketball game during her husband’s varsity coaching tenure, recalled that era, which featured large crowds. During those days, schools didn’t offer as many sports to their students. In addition, there was no Internet or cable television showing countless college or professional games.

“We packed that gym, and I’m talking about both sides,” said Mrs. Hamann, who said some of Willowbrook’s main rivals in the days of the Des Plaines Valley League were Glenbard East, Proviso East and East Leyden. “It was so much fun.”
Tom Domin, a standout Willowbrook athlete in football, basketball and baseball in the 1970s, knew Hamann as a coach and a colleague. As a sophomore, Domin played varsity basketball during Hamann’s first season as head coach. Domin has spent several years as a teacher and coach at Willowbrook. He is now the chair of the school’s physical education department.

“He was a mentor…a real pillar of strength,” said Domin. “He was a very dependable and patient teacher, and a really honest man.”

Hamann stopped coaching basketball at Willowbrook in 1985, but he continued as the school’s boys golf coach. He coached both of his sons on the Warriors golf team.
“It was an honor,” said Jeff, a 1992 Willowbrook graduate, of playing for his father. “I liked it so much I became a golf coach myself. I spent my entire life wanting to be like him. He had a calm demeanor. He expected excellence, but he was really patient.”

“I think we saw how much fun he was having, and how much he was affecting his students,” echoed Jim Hamann, who graduated from Willowbrook in 1997. As a senior, Jim qualified as an individual for the IHSA state golf tournament. “That was one of the highlights,” said Jim of his high school career.

Hamann retired from teaching at Willowbrook when his daughter graduated in 2000, but he continued coaching the golf program for a few more years. Shortly after his retirement, a tournament he started at Willowbrook was named after him. That event is now known as the John Hamann Willowbrook Scramble. This year’s event took place on Saturday at Sugar Creek Golf Course. Mrs. Hamann joined Jeff and Julie Hamann and other family members to present the awards at the 10-team event. Jim Hamann could not be there—his own golf team had a meet at the same time.

Hamann, who did not smoke, died after a battle with lung cancer. More than 1,000 people, including many Willowbrook graduates who were coached by Hamann, attended his visitation at Steuerle Funeral Home in Villa Park.

“John Hamann could pretty much do anything,” said Mrs. Hamann, who mentioned her husband’s many interests (he enjoyed golf and traveling, and was a devoted Chicago White Sox fan). “He was a very talented man, of high integrity in so many ways.”

“He was the best…absolutely the best,” said Jim Ladd, a retired Willowbrook teacher who arrived at the school when it opened in 1959. “He was a very good friend for 30-some years. He’ll be missed terribly.”

Memorials may be made to: Willowbrook High School, Attention: John Hamann Scholarship Fund, 1250 S. Ardmore Ave., Villa Park, or Community Congregational Church, 410 S. Cornell Ave., Villa Park.


Alumni to hold fundraiser for Shop with a Cop
The Lombard Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association (LCPAAA) will hold a fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings on Sept. 15, from open to close, to raise money for the organization’s Shop With a Cop. The alumni organization will receive a 10-percent donation for all pre-taxed food sales (less alcohol and promotional discounts).

To help raise funds for Shop With a Cop, visit the Lombard Buffalo Wild Wings, 207 E. Roosevelt Road, during normal business hours on Sept. 15 to either dine in or take out. You must present a copy of the LCPAAA coupon when ordering/paying. To print a coupon, visit http//:sites.google.com/site/lombardcpa or contact trishmayer3@comcast.net to have a copy e-mailed to you.


Village blood drive to add red cell donation program
“Today’s donors are busier than ever but their desire to help others hasn’t lessened,” said Karen Schwarz, marketing representative for Heartland Blood Centers.

“We recognize the donor’s commitment to meeting patient blood needs while juggling their own personal demands so this gives donors an option to make red cell donations but on a less often basis,” Schwarz added.

Schwarz is referring to an option that will be offered to donors at the Lombard Community Blood Drive, scheduled for Sept. 15, 1: 30-7 p.m. at Lombard Village Hall. The option is to donate red blood cells. This type of donation takes about 30 minutes longer and allows for the collection of two full units of red cells. The transfusion process is much easier on the patient when the units of red cells come from the same donor. There are also benefits for the donor including fewer trips to donate and phone calls (since you can only donate in this fashion every 16 weeks versus every eight weeks for a traditional whole blood donation.) Also, a smaller needle is used.

Not all donors will qualify to do a red cell donation. There are different height, weight and iron requirements. In addition, blood types A-, O and B are needed.

“We have not offered this previously but offering it at the September drive makes a lot of sense because it gives people enough time in between drives so that they can donate again in January at the next village blood drive,” said Carol Bauer, executive coordinator for the village manager’s office and coordinator of the village blood drives.
Appointments for blood donations may be made by contacting Bauer at 630-620-5712 or by e-mail at bauerc@villageoflombard.org. All blood donors are required to present a photo ID to donate blood. All donors will receive a coupon for a free pint of soft serve ice cream, compliments of the Lombard Culver’s restaurant.