A crucial vote by village trustees in La Grange could mean the tearing down of a historic building for plans of a new condo building.

The idea for the five-story multi-unit building to take the place of the Jackson Square Antique Mall is getting mixed reactions from renters inside.  

Character takes time to build, and there's plenty of it at the mall. 

 "It's an old town with amazing character," said Therese O'Sullivan.

 O'Sullivan runs the business, approaching 27 years — that's young compared to the building.  

"This is 120-year-old Egyptian revival art deco by George Kingsley," said renter Mandy Levy. "The building itself is half the charm, right?"

Levy rents space inside the antique mall for her shop, Junkie Vintage, alongside dozens of other small shops.

"How cool to be able to go inside this literal tomb of treasures and history of La Grange and spend a day antique shopping?" Levy said.

However, a local developer envisions something new — in place of the old. A five-story condo building with 39 units.

O'Sullivan is sold on the plans and agreed to sell the building.

"I'm for it," she said. "You know, I'm the person that has been in here every day. The biggest thing is we're at the end of life with the elevator, and that investment to repurpose the elevator or redo it is over half a million dollars."

The fate of the historic building comes down to a vote.

"Tonight, our La Grange village board will vote on the proposal to demolish the building and erect very ordinary condominiums," Levy said.

Levy doesn't hide her opposition — wearing a "Save Jackson Square" shirt. She's one of more than 2,000 people who've signed an online petition to save the building.

"At what point is it too much?" O'Sullivan said. "If it was possible, I'd say, you know, of course, someone would repurpose it, but unfortunately, we never had anybody come in who said it made economical sense."

Levy doesn't want La Grange to lose the character that took years to build. 

"The demolishing of this 120-year-old Art Deco building will take La Grange off the map as anywhere interesting," she said.

The owner of the antique mall says she's looking to buy a new space for her business near La Grange. She said she has commitments from about half of her vendors to move with her.

The La Grange trustees plan to take up a vote on the zoning portion of the developer's plan at 7:30 p.m.