Freeport Plaza West Proposals

Meadow Brook Bank, Freeport PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH ADAMS

The Request for Proposals for Plaza West, “the gateway to Freeport,” was presented to the public in November 1998. Ellen Kelly, the Executive Director of the Community Development agency, stressed the importance of the site as it is on Sunrise Highway at North Grove in the central business district and includes the former Meadow Brook Bank building, the adaptive re-use of which was urged (see photo). Located at the apex of a triangle the 1929 bank building has long been admired as Freeport’s “Flatiron Building.” This art-deco structure, originally the First National Bank and Trust Company, is the sole survivor in Plaza West as all the buildings to the east of it were razed in the village’s urban renewal program. The bank building was designed by Muller, Lucht & Anderson, E. Randall consulting architect, and erected by the Wills Egelhof Co., Inc. It is good news to learn that efforts are ongoing to protect this interesting and unusual building.