City council to re-examine renovation of Bromley Hall

By Libby John

The DeKalb City Council will consider allowing the former Bromley Hall, 830 Edgebrook Drive, to be renovated into a rooming house or apartment building.

The building owner has been working to repair the building that was damaged in a 1995 fire and has since been unoccupied.

The council will look at the project at the city council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St.

The last time it was up for approval, council members rejected the proposal because of a discrepancy between the number of parking spaces allotted the building and the number of potential tenants. City council members also wanted input from the Greek Row Neighborhood Advisory Task Force, which oversees community improvements in the area.

The task force reviewed the project and gave the city council its approval Feb. 11.

In the latest ordinance, Bromley owner Jerry Cherney is asking to build either a 116-person-occupancy rooming house, 87 efficiency apartments or 73 one-bedroom apartments.

The ordinance also requires that tenants register their cars with the landlord and park in designated spaces rather than public streets. Cherney has a contract to acquire parking spaces at nearby Campus Cinemas, if the project is completed.

Also on the agenda for the meeting, the owner of O’Leary’s Irish Pub and Grill, which will be located at 260 E. Lincoln Highway, is asking the city for a $50,193 loan. The money would be used to install a larger-than-anticipated elevator in the downtown building.

Linda Wiggins, director of administrative services for the city of DeKalb, said owner Mel Witmer first thought the elevator shaft had to be big enough to fit a wheelchair. After further research, he learned it would have to be big enough to accommodate a hospital gurney.