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City Hall relocation sends DeKalb Chamber of Commerce office from historic bank building to modern bank

By D.M. Herra

Everyone came up a winner in a downtown office space equivalent of musical chairs –one that is seeing city hall take up residence downtown, the chamber of commerce bridge the gap between downtown and the university, and a local bank make efficient use of empty office space. the chamber had been a tenant there since 2002.

“The city downsized and didn’t need their huge building on Fourth Street anymore,” DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Matt

Last fall, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce moved its offices from a century-old downtown bank building into newer, more modern digs inside the First Midwest Bank location at 130 W. Lincoln Highway.

The move was sparked by the City of DeKalb’s decision to locate city offices in the historic bank, known as the Nehring Building. The building was recently sold to the city by the DeKalb Park District; Duffy said. “When they were seeking to relocate, they wanted to be in the heart of downtown.”

Located at the intersection of Lincoln Highway and Second Street, the Nehring Building fit the bill. The city’s need for space dropped dramatically after the DeKalb Police Department moved into its new facility in 2013, and the old city hall will require some major renovations in the near future, city manager Bill Nicklas has said. The Nehring Building –smaller, located in the heart of downtown and already government owned –seemed the perfect solution.

That solution did, however, put the chamber and the building’s other tenants, the DeKalb County Convention

and V isitors Bur eau and the DeKalb Ar ea Agricultural Heritage Association, in the market for new space.

Accor ding to Duf fy , the chamber consider ed several years ago moving to a space better suited to its needs but was hesitant to leave the Nehring Building’ s futur e up to fate, Duf fy said.

“It’ s a neat historic building, and I’m glad it’ s going to continue to be maintained as that,” he said. “W e didn’ t want to thr eaten that or to cr eate an empty space downtown.”

Though the Nehring Building has its historic charms, Duffy said, the layout created challenges for the way the chamber does business.

“A couple of years ago we had an office built for me because the whole space is just wide open,” he said. “There was no place to have private meetings or even to close the door and take a phone call. That open layout works for some environments, but for us, it was limiting.” When sear ching for a new space, however , layout took a backseat to location. The chamber boar d’ s top priority , Duf fy said, was to stay downtown, or as close to downtown as feasible.

As it tur ned out, the timing of the sear ch couldn’ t have been better . First Midwest had r ecently r elocated some of its staf f, re sulting in empty office space it decided to r ent. The bank is located in a transitional neighborhood, wher e downtown blends into the Norther n Illinois University campus community.

“The timing was perfect,” Duffy said. “It’s a nice, professional business environment in a high traffic area, and it’s a great space.”

The new location has space for each of the chamber’s four full-time employees, Duffy said – private offices for himself, the membership director, and the director of marketing and events, as well as a welcoming reception area. There is also conference space and basement storage.

“The last space had a lot of dead space we couldn’t utilize,” he admitted. “We had a lot of storage, but it wasn’t really organized –you’d have a little bit her e in this cor ner and a little bit over ther e in that cor ner . And ther e was no elevator to the basement, so if you wer e storing things down there you were carrying them up and down stairs.”

The other Nehring Building tenants ar e also settling into new spaces. The DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau, previously housed above the chamber offices, has moved to the DeKalb County Community Outreach Building, 2500 N. Annie Glidden Road in DeKalb. The DeKalb Ar ea Agricultural Heritage Association has temporarily located to the NIU-owned building at 2280 Bethany Road in DeKalb as it continues to search for a permanent location.

With all the Nehring Building’s tenants relocated, the building is undergoing some renovation work to prepare it for its new identity as DeKalb City Hall. The city expects to move into the finished building by spring. The old city hall will then be sold.

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