In 1935, Des Plaines' city leadership was feeling cramped, and
applied for a grant to find relief. The old Village Hall, built
in 1892, was created to serve a much smaller village than the
city that existed 44 years later. Des Plaines had grown, with
annexations and subdivisions of former farms, a larger
administration that had to fit in quite a small space, shared
with police and fire. A new municipal building at Graceland and
Prairie avenues was dedicated on June 26, 1937. Today, the site
provides parking for the Civic Center and the Des Plaines Police
Department. The federal government's Public Works Administration
aided local projects including this one during the Great
Depression. Des Plaines had an ideal site at the corner of
Graceland and Prairie avenues, which housed the Des Plaines
Public Library and a park. The 29-year-old building was wrecked
to make way for a new two-story building to house the city
government, police, and council chambers in a two-story building
at a cost of $84,920. The new buil