page_title: Wilmette, Illinois
section_title: 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: Wilmette, Illinois / History / 21st century
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of 2002 Winter Olympic torch relay, highlighting the segment of the route that traveled place between Chicago and Milwaukee Map derived from File:2002 Winter Olympics torch relay route.svg
context_page_description: Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan, it is located 14 miles north of Chicago's downtown district and had a population at the 2010 census of 27,087. In 2020, Wilmette was ranked by Niche.com as the best place to raise a family in Cook County based on a variety of factors including public schools grade, percentage of residents with a bachelors degree or higher, crime & safety grade, family amenities, walkability grade, percentage of households with children, and access to parks and other recreational activities.
  Wilmette is also home to Romona Elementary School, a recent recipient of the National Blue Ribbon award bestowed by the U.S. Department of Education.
context_section_description: November 7, 2000 residents voted in favor of spending up to $10 million in general obligation bonds to reconstruct the pools at Centennial Park. Work on replacing the 30-year-old pools began on August 12, 2001. The pools were reopened ten months later on June 8, 2002.
  Wilmette again rebuilt its commuter rail station in 2001.
  After the September 11 attacks the Wilmette Park District established the “Reach Out Wilmette” campaign in an effort to contribute to disaster relief fundraising. Special events (including a variety show, a 5K Run, aerobics classes, and a Blood Drive) were held. The campaign ultimately raised more than $10,000 in aid funding.
  On January 5, 2002 the Olympic Torch passed through downtown Wilmette on its route from Chicago to Milwaukee during the 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay.
  In late 2001, a coalition of open land advocates, historic building preservationists and proponents of senior/affordable housing banded together to petition the Park District to purchase the 17-acre Mallinckrodt College property (which contained a former college building alongside 14 acres of open land). The group petitioned the village to hold a referendum on purchasing the property. Mallinckrodt property was under contract to be sold by Loyola University Chicago to a developer that intended to raze the historic 1916 structure and build a tract of single family homes. On March 19, 2002 a referendum was held, and Wilmette residents vote in favor of granting the Park District the authority to issue up to $25 million in bonds in order to purchase, improve, and maintain the Mallinckrodt College property. The village ultimately acquired the property for $20 million in September of that year. In May 2003 the Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded the Park District a $2 million grant through the Open Land Trust program in order to preserve 5.22 acres of the property. In July 2004 a sales agreement was reached in which the Park District transferred ownership of the building to the Village of Wilmette. The village would then aim to sell the structure to a developer that would convert it into condos for senior citizens. Under the sale agreement with the developer, the Park District has retained a 7,000 square foot space on the ground floor of the building's south wing of the building, which they operate as a community recreation space named The Mallinckrodt Center. The Mallinckrodt Center contains the new home of the Meskill 
  Senior Center.
caption: Wilmette was a stop on the 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay route segment between Chicago and Milwaukee (highlighted in red box)
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