A NOT SO GRAND OPENING FOR THE GREAT PARK

Glenview's Great Park isn't ready for business yet, but officials want to reward restless natives with the grand prize for suffering through so much development.  Starting June 4, we'll be allowed to wander the paths of our park on Sundays.  Officials also promise to open roads leading from Lake to Chestnut and Chestnut east to Lehigh on June 1.  Glenview Watch has previewed the property, and it is lovely.  (We try not to think about the bill for maintenance.)

TEEING-OFF AT THE PARK DISTRICT

For months, Glenview officials have been boasting about the Audubon certified golf course that Kemper is supposed to build at the Glen.  Audubon courses provide habitat for wildlife and use fewer bug and weed-killing chemicals than conventional courses.  The claim was an environmental feather in the Village cap – a way to fend off critics who feel Glenview has preserved too little natural open space at the old Base.

Now, a shadow has fallen over the course.  Trustee Kent Fuller called Audubon International and was told Kemper had not applied for certification as promised.  "They've blown it off," said Fuller.  "They came in here, made us promises and said, `Trust us.  We'll do good for mother nature,' and they've not followed through."

Angered by the apparent betrayal, admitting the board had gotten nothing in writing from Kemper, the frustrated Fuller looked around for a target.  Finding no one from Kemper in the Board Room, he lashed out at the Glenview Park District, which had come to get final zoning approval for its nine-hole golf course already being constructed.  The Park District, using tax dollars, never promised an Audubon course. 

Audubon mandates creation of separate wildlife habitat, according to Park District executive Fred Gullen.  "The Audubon Program requires additional space.  This is a nine-hole family golf course.  It's very tight.  It's on 39 acres, and also the maintenance building for the Kemper course is there.  I don't believe we could create this course on 39 acres and produce a lot of habitat."

Gullen asked the Village not to delay its project.  "It could be quite a problem for us." he said. "We have the limited construction season.  That does translate into cost." 

Trustees Pappo and Carlson agreed.  Board President Firfer pointed out that at their last meeting the Trustees had signed off on the Park District's golf course plans, but Fuller was not appeased.  "I've been criticized for being overly critical of the Park District," he said.  "That's not my purpose here at all.  I have no issue to disrupt the work of the Park District in any way, but I do want a clear understanding of what's happening for nature in the Village." 

Trustees John Crawford and Rachel Cook fell into line behind Fuller,  forcing the Park District to come back in 2-4 weeks when Kemper representatives will appear to explain their plans.

THE DRIVE FOR A NEW LEHIGH ROAD

The Village intends to move Lehigh Road and install water lines through a section of grasslands north of the Airmen's Prairie to supply Home Depot when it starts construction on the Northern Triangle next month.  Work on the water main was supposed to begin Monday, but crews got an early start – piling pipes on the property Thursday morning.  Trustee Crawford, en route to breakfast with his wife, noticed the activity and went to see Village Manager Paul McCarthy.  Other officials learned of the situation and called Glenview Watch.  We put the word out by e-mail, and residents began calling their elected officials.

The upshot was an agreement to stop work until the Environmental Review Committee could tour the site (Tuesday) and determine whether that grassy area is worthy of protection.  Bird watchers claim it provides habitat for eastern meadowlarks, goldfinches, savannah sparrows and other native species which cannot survive on golf courses or in backyards.  They will only nest on brushy land – the kind being cleared for new homes, shopping centers and industrial parks all over the region.

How likely is the ERC to recommend protection for this land when it meets on Thursday?  How likely is the Village to listen?

We can't say, but if actions speak louder than words, it doesn't look good for the birds.  Glenview has asked a Village contractor to take out little blue stem, pussy toes and other prairie plants by Friday morning so they won't be destroyed during construction.  Trustee Fuller was at the site Thursday night, digging up a few himself. 

AND NOW, A WORD FROM THE DEVELOPER

Village officials give two questionable reasons for moving Lehigh Road about 250 feet south of its current location parallel to Willow Road.  First, they claim that San Francisco-based Catellus – the company which holds an option to buy and develop property around the prairie – wants it that way.  Glenview Watch spoke with Catellus on Friday, and the company's man in Chicago said that was not the case.

Dan Marcus expressed a strong wish to work with the community toward a development that is environmentally sensitive.  He indicated that the road could go in other places, buildings could be built with the needs of wildlife in mind, and Catellus might be willing to sell unused land back to the Village to protect rare prairie plants and animals.

THE ENTRANCE RAMP TO A SIX LANE HIGHWAY?

In planning the new route for Lehigh, Glenview also cites the need to leave space for extra lanes should the state opt to widen Willow Road. But a traffic study commissioned by Home Depot says it will be difficult to create the six-lane thoroughfare through Glenview.   KLOA, a transportation and parking consultant based in Rosemont, points to the expense of widening a railroad overpass and underpass near Lehigh and the lack of public right-of-way west of Shermer, an area "already developed with high-density residential.   The cost associated with assembling the necessary right-of-way may require a long period of time."   

MCCARTHY "WARNS" CONSTRUCTION CREWS

"The game of cat and mouse is continuing between Village contractors and Village inspectors in regard to early morning [construction] starts," said Village Manager McCarthy at Tuesday's Board meeting.  "The offenders this morning were contractors for Concord."

McCarthy said the Village would continue to enforce a 7 a.m. start for construction in the Village on weekdays and a 9 a.m. start on weekends.  To prove that the Village is playing tough with construction crews,  he publicly announced that Glenview police would "stake-out" Concord's construction site the next morning.

JIM SMIRLES THANKS THE LORD

Former Village Board President Jim Smirles was back in the Board Room Tuesday to describe his new and improved shopping center at the corner of Waukegan and Lake.  The ever-smiling Smirles went on for nearly half an hour, describing every detail of the project, down to the bark mulch and perennials that will decorate islands in the parking lot.  He was particularly enthusiastic about the coming of a specialty food store.

"The Lord was with us," he said.  "Someone came to us and offered us a grocery store called Trader Joe's.  We really hadn't heard of Trader Joe's. They had about 135 stores in California, 50 stores out east.  We start making phone calls and I guess the best way to describe it is what happened this morning.  At 8:15 this morning I was getting out of my car and someone that many of us know, and I'll just mention her first name – Susan – was walking towards Burhop's where we have a diagram of what's going on, and I said `Susan, how are you?  I says ‘Burhop's is closed. '‘I know,' she says, ‘but I heard Trader Joe's is coming.' And I says, ‘Yes.' And she says, ‘I can't believe it.  I can't believe it.' 

She says, ‘I go to see my daughter every year, and when I go to see my daughter in California, I come back with at least two bags completely full of items,' and she says, ‘I'm on my way to Evanston Hospital where I volunteer, and I take orders from all of them – of what they want me to bring back.' 

And just recently Paul Thomas and I had a little get together with the writers – the people that worked so hard on our Centennial Book, just to thank `em, and I heard this screaming at the other end.  I said, `What happened?'  They said, `Are you bringing Trader Joe's here?' And we said ‘Yes.'  She said, `I have a daughter in California and I have one in Seattle,' and she said, `I go to the California daughter because I want to go to Trader Joe's,' and she says, "My Seattle daughter called me and says Trader Joe's has now moved to Seattle so now you can come up to see us,' – so we're excited."

It was one heck of a monologue lasting more than two minutes, but in the end,  viewers who didn't know Trader Joe's were still wondering what it is.  Glenview Watch will spare you another commercial.  If you're excited by the prospect of grocery shopping like Smirles and the mysterious Susan – visit www.traderjoes.com.

OUR READERS WRITE:

I lived in Glenview from 1962-1968 and moved back three years ago.   I like Glenview, but there weren't many places to shop downtown in 1962, and I feel the same now, 30 years later.  In 1962, I thought Waukegan Road from Winnetka Road south to Glenview Road was UGLY and IT STILL IS!   The same goes for Glenview Road at Waukegan west to Harlem.   Over the years, other suburbs have shaped up their downtowns and brought in stores (GAP, Old Navy, St. Louis Bread Co., etc.) that people actually want to shop in.  Glenview continues to live in the past with its junky stores and store fronts. Nothing flows in the town of Glenview.  Everything looks like it was designed and built as an after thought -- "piecemeal" as grandma used to say.  Milwaukee Road from Glenview Road to Lake Street is very pretty.  Let's not build more "piecemeal" retail stores and have that area look like Waukegan Road or Glenview Road (downtown).  YUCK!!   I say NO to ABT.  –SB

AND DESIGN SCHOOL GRADUATE JC SAYS:

I know this will sound like sour grapes since I am unable to afford a home at the Glen.  I did a drive through recently and observed BIG BOX houses under construction by Kimball Hill.

I find it odd that Glenview hired Skidmore Owings and Merrill of Chicago, one of the most prestigious architectural firms in the world,  to design a master plan, and then allowed the insertion of BIG BOXES.  The complicated configurations and overuse of 'stock' windows in these homes indicate that the home designer/builders have had no formal design schooling.

I will remain in my 'walk to' location in downtown Glenview.  I have the library, hardware store (at least for now), restaurants, etc. right outside my door. I know the Glen is supposed to be "where it's at," but I do not believe the heart of Glenview can be relocated or duplicated.


YOUR TURN

What's on your mind? Drop us a line by e-mail at GlenviewWatch@aol.com or the old-fashioned way. We're at 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60025. Thanks for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors of The Watch.

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