Trustees will decide Tuesday, July 21, whether to approve the construction contract for the Burlington Park Pavilion, a project nearly 20 years in the making that held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Friday, July 4.
The vote is the marquee confirmed item on the Hinsdale Village Board's agenda. Meanwhile, unresolved questions about Fuller's Car Wash linger after a second vehicle crashed into bollards outside the business on Wednesday, July 1, though no formal agenda item on the car wash's special-use permit has been confirmed for the meeting.
Pavilion contract vote
The $526,000 pavilion project is funded entirely by private donations. No taxpayer dollars are involved. Village President Greg Hart said at the July 4 groundbreaking that talk of a pavilion at Burlington Park has taken place for almost 20 years.
"And when I took the oath of office a little over a year ago, this was one of the projects I knew I wanted to pursue. And, candidly, we pushed hard," Hart said.
Trustees rejected initial bids in May 2026 that ranged from $405,000 to $585,573 for exceeding the original $350,000 budget, according to the village's project page. Dave Knecht Homes was ultimately selected in part because Knecht, a Hinsdale native, made an in-kind contribution of $85,000 to bring down costs. A separate $100,000 donation from James Bouchard also helped close the gap.
The contract was introduced at the Tuesday, June 30 board meeting. The official agenda packet with the final contract dollar amount has not yet been posted for the July 21 meeting.
UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale Hospital is the project's largest donor at $175,000, followed by the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce at $100,000. Architect Michael Abraham donated his design services. Full construction is set to begin in late summer after the Uniquely Thursdays concert series wraps up, according to The Hinsdalean.
Fuller's Car Wash: second crash renews safety concerns
No formal Village Board agenda item on Fuller's Car Wash special-use permit has been confirmed for Tuesday's meeting. But the July 1 crash has renewed public pressure on the village.
A 2018 Ford Expedition crashed into bollards outside Fuller's at approximately 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1. According to the Hinsdale Police Department accident report, an employee entered the vehicle as it exited the wash and the brakes failed, causing heavy front-end damage and deploying the airbag. The driver was treated at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale Hospital for head pain and abrasions.
The crash hit close to home for Brian and Kristine Richards, whose 14-year-old son Sean was killed by a car exiting the same car wash on Monday, July 17, 2023.
"It took us a year to get proper bollards installed," the Richards family said in a statement. "This incident demonstrates how truly avoidable Sean's death was."
Neville Reid, a bankruptcy trustee appointed after the Fuller family filed for Chapter 11 in January 2025, said his team is "still actively investigating the cause of the accident and seeking to determine the conditions that would need to be satisfied before the car wash is re-opened."
Hinsdale government week ahead
- Tuesday, July 21 — Village Board of Trustees regular meeting, Village Hall. Confirmed agenda item: Burlington Park Pavilion construction contract vote. Fuller's Car Wash status may draw public comment. The official agenda has not yet been posted; residents can check villageofhinsdale.org for the packet and public comment sign-up procedures.
