With wholesale giant Costco now off the table as a potential buyer of the former Hubble Middle School site, school officials want to make sure they have a clear vision before moving forward.

“I think we need to ensure that we have something to go forward on,” said Wheaton Warrenville School District 200 board member Barbara Intihar.

During a school board meeting Wednesday, officials expressed the importance of putting together a concrete vision for the Hubble site and not getting sidetracked over talks about potential buyers.

Over the past several months, rumors have circulated that Costco was interested in taking over the Hubble property, which is located near Roosevelt and Naperville roads.

The possibility sparked an outcry in the community from many local residents and nearby homeowners, who were concerned about the traffic it would bring to the area and damage it could have on property values.

Then, earlier this week, the store backed down from its interest.

“We shouldn’t be as a community reacting to runoff interest in the property,” said board member Rosemary Swanson.

Swanson is one of several officials who sit on the Hubble Steering Committee, which includes school, park district and city officials.

The purpose of the group is to put together a comprehensive plan that will outline exactly what type of retail or residential component they would like to see built at the site.

Ideally, that plan would then be approved by the city, which would then rezone the property before it is sold by the school district.

However, with all the talks circulating around Costco, Swanson said the focus of the committee simply got lost.

And in order to prevent that focus from getting derailed again by any other potential buyers, it is important to first finish what they started: having a vision.

“If we have a plan in place, most importantly we are able to attract the right people to put on the property what people want,” she said.

Other options being considered by the committee include a mixed-use development of grocery and entertainment, a mixed use of both commercial and residential and just pure residential homes.

Swanson said although the committee will not handpick specific stores or entertainment venues they would like to see at the site, it is its job to decide exactly what type of development will work best for the community.

Should other interested buyers come forward during that process, then it should be up to the city to decide how it would like to handle it – not the steering committee.

Still, with much of the property remaining vacant, it was a concern among other members of the board how long it would take to move along those conversations.

Bill Farley, assistant superintendent for business operations, said it costs the district about $300,000 a year to manage the facility. Much of this is due to heating costs, with the temperature set at a certain level to keep the fire alarm system operational and some of the gyms being occupied by park district programs.

“It is definitely a cost we are carrying,” he said.

Because of this, the board said it is even more important for the steering committee to work as quickly as possible without short-changing the process.

And only then, when the vision is realized, will the district put the property on the market to be sold.

“For all intents and purposes, (right now) we have nothing to sell,” said Board President Andy Johnson.