SR0875 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0875 LRB103 40003 LAW 71321 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Alan L. "Al" Larson, the former and longest-serving Mayor of the Village of Schaumburg, who passed away on March 19, 2024; and

WHEREAS, Al Larson was born on October 21, 1938; he and his family moved to Schaumburg in the late 1960s; he earned an Associate of Science from William Rainey Harper College in Palatine; and

WHEREAS, Al Larson began serving the Village of Schaumburg in 1973, when he was appointed public relations director and as a member of the village's first Environmental Committee; he was next appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals and was named chairman of the Environmental Committee in 1974; and

WHEREAS, Al Larson began his political tenure as a village trustee of Schaumburg in 1975, a position he held across three terms for a total of 12 years; he reintroduced and revitalized the concept of a Schaumburg Historic District to aid in the preservation of historic buildings, leading to the establishment of the Olde Schaumburg Centre Historic District; during his tenure, he also co-founded the Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, and he received the 1976 Environmental Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for his efforts, becoming one of only two locally elected officials to receive the award; and

WHEREAS, Al Larson served as Mayor of the Village of Schaumburg for eight terms from 1987 to 2019; he led many development projects in the retail, residential, and commercial sectors, significantly raising Schaumburg's profile locally and nationally; he spearheaded the initiative for the village to acquire the privately-owned Schaumburg Airpark as a public airfield in 1994, known today as the Schaumburg Regional Airport; he oversaw the village's acquisition of Town Square Shopping Center in 1995; he built collaborative relationships with local government partners, bringing a professional baseball team to the village in 1999; he also supervised the village's acquisition of a previously underproductive tract of land on Schaumburg's northeast side that became the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel in 2016; and

WHEREAS, Al Larson was also instrumental in broadening cultural programming through helping launch the annual Prairie Arts Festival, initiating the development of a theater workshop for young people, promoting the development of the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra, and pushing for the establishment of a youth ballet troupe that led to the founding of the Schaumburg Dance Ensemble; in recognition of his achievements in the arts, the Prairie Center was renamed the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts in his honor in 2017; after finishing his service as mayor in 2019, he was appointed to the village's 1% for Art Committee and Cultural Commission, where he continued to serve until his passing, and he helped fund the Prairie Center Arts Foundation's Young Artist Assistance Program in 2020; and

WHEREAS, Al Larson held leadership positions in several organizations, which included serving as past president and vice president of the Illinois Municipal League, chair of Joint Action Water Agency, co-chair of the STAR Line Steering Committee, and past president of the Northwest Municipal Conference, where he also served as a member of the executive board and as past chair of the Transportation Committee; he served on the boards of Arts Alliance Illinois, the Chicago Area Transportation Study, the Illinois Public Airports Association, and PACE; he was a member of the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, the Council of Mayors, and the Transportation Infrastructure and Services Steering Committee for the National League of Cities; he also served on the 15-member Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and its executive committee, charged with integrating land use and transportation planning for the 7-county area of northeastern Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Al Larson was known for his mentorship, charisma, and love for Schaumburg; he will be remembered as a visionary who dedicated more than 45 years of his life to serving Schaumburg, ensuring its future for generations to come; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Alan L. "Al" Larson, the former and longest-serving Mayor of the Village of Schaumburg, and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Al Larson as an expression of our deepest sympathy.