A busy new Glen Ellyn medical building will bear the name of the late chief executive officer of a 250-doctor medical group in DuPage County.

Lawyer and business executive Darrell Stremler of Oak Brook died Sept. 10, 2005, of cancer at the age of 45. He was the CEO of the DuPage Medical Group. In 1999, Stremler spearheaded change and helped merge three medical groups into one. He led the DuPage Medical Group for six years until his death.

“This new Glen Ellyn building will serve as a memorial to the late Darrell Stremler,” CEO Ed Carne said. “He was a true leader, and without his vision we would not be the dynamic group that we are today.”

The three-story building is being constructed off the intersection of Pennsylvania and Western avenues in the business district of Glen Ellyn. The medical group operates the 454 Pennsylvania Ave. site with offices for plastic surgery, internal medicine, dermatology, pediatrics, orthopedics and physical therapy.

The physician-owned company is the largest employer in the business district of Glen Ellyn. The new building will feature upgraded medical equipment and labs.

The medical group is demolishing the existing 71,100-square-foot clinic and constructing a new 92,163-square-foot building next door, along with 382 parking spaces on the 5-acre site. The parking lot will be built where the current building now stands.

At the site now, the building remains standing as construction continues on the new building. Spokeswoman Carrie Von Drasek said the new building will have more modern technology to help patients.

“It will help us offer more state of the art medical equipment,” she said.

The Glen Ellyn Economic Development Corp. estimated that 250,000 patients a year visit the DuPage Medical Group site. The new building will be capable of handling even more. Von Drasek said issues such as increased traffic and congestion at the new site “have already been addressed” as the project moves forward.

“Our new building will also offer retail opportunities that will help bring increased business to the community. We are excited to be a part of that,” she said.

Construction groundbreaking on the $23.5 million project was held in December.

DuPage Medical Group doctors work at Central DuPage Hospital, Delnor Community Hospital, Edward Hospital, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and Hinsdale Hospital. DuPage Medical Group has a surgical center in Lombard. Leopardo Construction of Carol Stream is general contractor with Eckenhoff Saunders Architects of Chicago as architect.