Three years ago a public survey found more than 60 percent of Glenview residents wanted to keep the library at its current location. Now, the library board plans to ask again – this time including residents of The Glen. A consultant hired to do the first telephone poll is expected to be hired for this second effort, calling several hundred residents from all over town to determine where they’d like to see a new or renovated library. The board will discuss details at its next meeting on June 18.

The public is invited to attend as the panel debates whether to even include its current site in the survey. An architectural consultant has said that it would be far more expensive to add onto the present library than to build a new 110,000-square-foot library on free land at The Glen. "We’d have to go up at least three stories and have underground parking," says library Vice President Karen Teitelbaum, and dealing with the layout of the existing building which has been remodeled several times she adds, "would be inefficient and expensive to operate."

Library Trustee Jerome McQuie agrees. "The challenge with the existing library

location is rearranging things to fit an additional 100_150 parking spaces and the extra building space."

Real estate insiders say Glenview is taking a chance with National Book Warehouse, the chain which will replace Borders at The Glen Town Center. Bookstores are viewed as important anchor tenants of shopping centers because they draw shoppers to the mall more often than other kinds of retail.

When Borders decided not to open in Glenview a chain called National Book Warehouse, known as a discount seller of leftover inventory from publishers and retailers, agreed to step in with its first conventional bookstore – a place featuring best sellers, magazines, overstuffed chairs, cappuccino and snacks along with discounted books.

Crain’s Chicago Business quotes observers who feel the experiment is risky. "The chain has no experience running a traditional bookstore, and Borders and Barnes & Noble [operate a total of eight] stores within a 10-mile radius of Glenview," writes reporter John Slania. Crain’s also notes the market for books is sluggish with sales down 4 percent from last year.

Milwaukee book retailer David Schwartz expressed surprise that NBW would open an upscale store in an upscale suburb. "[It’s] bizarre," he told Crain’s. "National Book Warehouse’s reputation in the past has always been that of a bottom feeder. For them to be trying something like this seems counterintuitive."

Schwartz passed on an offer to locate one of his stores at The Glen. So did Barbara’s, a chain of seven bookstores in Chicago. The owner and president of that company, Donald Barliant, told Crain’s he was concerned about The Glen Town Center’s location – tucked in the middle of a planned community with too little street traffic.

Developer OliverMcMillan worked hard to seal the deal, spending more than $1 million on interior design, furnishing and fixtures for the store to be known as The Book Market at Hangar One. "We’re paying for everything right down to the cash register," Dene Oliver told Crain’s. The weekly business magazine also claims National Book Warehouse, the nation’s fourth latest chain, is paying well below market value for its 10-year lease.

National Book’s president David Hinkle is optimistic about the experiment, telling Crain’s that the mix of standard discounts on best sellers and bigger mark downs on other books, in the ambiance of an upscale bookstore will be a winning combination.

Editor’s note: Glenview has given developer Dene Oliver $36 million in subsidies for The Glen Town Center. Noting the heavy degree to which OliverMcMillan is now subsidizing a risky retail book store, we wonder if plans to renovate or rebuild Glenview’s public library are lagging in part because we’re buying bookshelves and cash registers for a privately-held, for-profit company.

OliverMcMillan executive Paul Buss tells the Glenview Announcements that 80 percent of retail space at The Glen Town Center is leased. The latest companies to sign are Jos. A. Bank Clothiers and a Columbus-based restaurant chain called Bravo!, which offers Italian cuisine and decor reminiscent of Roman ruins.

Buss dismissed critics who feel the location of the mixed use retail center is troublesome. "We think we’re enough of a destination that we’re not so concerned about picking up people off Patriot," he told reporter Lynne Stiefel. "They’re going to be coming here because they know it’s here."

The shopping center is on schedule to open October 18.

Shermer Road was set to be rebuilt next year from Lake Avenue to Golf Road with new sidewalks and improved water drainage included in the plans. Now, however, the state says it will have to postpone the work for a year due to a serious cash shortage in Springfield. Illinois was to provide $2.5 million of the total cost with Glenview spending $4 million for sewer and water work. Village President Larry Carlson expressed some relief over the news, saying at least Shermer Road and Lake Avenue would not be under construction at the same time.

– Village Manager Paul McCarthy has announced plans to hire a communication manager to help him do a better job with local government’s monthly newsletter, website and other efforts to reach the public.

– President Carlson swore in four new firemen, and Chief Dan Bonkowski said thanks for the men and for two new fire stations for which ground was broken last week. Bonkowski campaigned hard to keep his department from unionizing. Earlier this month, the union effort was defeated by one vote.

– Carlson reminded the public that vacancies remain on the plan and appearance commissions. Residents are invited to apply by sending a resume to Village President Carlson, 1225 Waukegan Road, Glenview, IL 60025.

– The moratorium on installation of internal neon signs at area businesses has been extended to give the plan commission more time for discussion.

The Kohl Children’s Museum, which plans to build on about nine acres at the corner of West Lake Ave. and Patriot Blvd. in The Glen, presented drawings and a model of its proposed building to the trustees last week. Former Village President Nancy Firfer introduced the project, saying she was representing the museum, but her clout didn’t count for much with some members of the board.

After inspecting the model of the large stucco building with a steeply-angled roof, Village President Carlson expressed doubts. "That is a very, very modern building. How well do you think that fits with the architecture of the rest of The Glen?"

The museum’s architect said his design was inspired by the history of the former Naval Air Station, with the two wings of the building suggesting the shape of an airplane. "It is different than anything else there," he said, "but I think this is the opportunity for something to be different and stand alone. We wanted to stay away from the elementary school look."

"We didn’t want the building to look like a whopping great warehouse," added museum president Sheridan Turner. "We wanted something that was friendly, that had character, that would be inviting to children." She added that the design was also linked to more practical concerns – making the building accessible for disabled kids and environmentally sustainable.

In fact, Kohl will apply for LEED certification – an award from the U.S. Green Building Council given to structures that demonstrate leadership in environmental design. The museum will, for example, collect rainwater from its pitched roof, storing it in cisterns and using it to water the surrounding landscape. As a result, Kohl will not tax local storm sewers or municipal water supplies.

"Do we have other buildings at The Glen that have stucco?" asked a wary Trustee Cummings.

The architect acknowledged lots of brick in the area but said stucco was allowed under official design guidelines for The Glen.

"The project doesn’t look to me like one that flows as I drive along Patriot Blvd.," said Cummings. "We have worked very hard to have a flow, and this is a complete deviation from that."

"They were trying to make it look like a children’s museum," said Firfer. "They were trying to make it stand out a little bit from the rest of The Glen. It isn’t the normal building that you see there. This is unique in the region. It’s not a school, it’s not a library, it’s not a park facility."

Cummings also objected to a 37-foot banner that would hang in front of the museum.

Trustee Mike Guinane weighed in with similar concerns and asked if Kohl would consider using different building materials.

Trustee Jeff Lerner said the architect had succeeded in designing a singular building, but he didn’t see why the museum should be distinctive. "We’re not sure we want you to be the one that stands out," he concluded. "The guidelines were to ensure that no one tenant out there stood out."

Turner insisted the museum was not trying to stand out. On the contrary, she argued it blended with the environment. "Stucco is a more earthy type of material and will fit much more into our landscape of native plants. You’re not going to be seeing yellow slides and red swings and plastic stuff that you see in other children’s playgrounds. We’ll have willow tunnels, sunflower gardens, a tall grass maze and a slate wall that children can paint on with water, then watch the water evaporate."

She concluded the building would not seem overpowering to young children and would certainly not be the center of attention at The Glen. "We want to compliment Hangar One and the mixed use retail center, not compete with it."

Trustee Mary Beth Denefe was satisfied with that response. "I’m no architect. . .but I like the design. I have absolutely no problem with the architecture."

Trustee Kim Woodrow was also happy with the plans, arguing a museum offers one of those opportunities "where you can get away with this kind of thing and really make an architectural statement. You’ve done that here. It has a certain whimsical quality to it which would appeal to a child, and I think that’s wonderful." He added that blending with the rest of The Glen was not necessary. "If we get too homogeneous, we’re gonna’ miss the mark with The Glen overall. A little bit of variety and distinctive architecture will help to enrich it."

Carlson, who approved such architectural duds as Metro Self Storage on Waukegan Road and the Westside Pump Station on Pfingsten, sighed. "I’m not a fan of modern architecture, and I’m trying to put that aside," but after offering a few words of praise for the museum’s environmental goals he concluded, "I do have a problem with the architecture."

Cummings wanted to see what the building would look like in brick, but Lerner didn’t think that was an appropriate call for the trustees. Addressing the architect he said, "Is that going to interfere with the design of the building? Is it going to defeat the purpose of what you’re trying to accomplish? If you come back with red and somebody wants white, we’re building your building, and I don’t think that’s our function."

The architect said earlier plans drawn with brick made the building look like a school, and he didn’t like the idea of mixing brick and stucco.

Denefe, who had earlier proposed such a combination as a possible compromise, promptly with drew it. "I’m a neophyte. I don’t know what I’m talking about, and I don’t want that suggestion to be taken seriously if it’s going to affect the integrity of the building."

Cummings was not deterred, saying the board had made architecture and building materials its business through the design guidelines. She wanted the museum to come back with alternatives and moved to continue the discussion in two weeks, but her motion was defeated by Lerner, Denefe and Woodrow who gave Kohl an okay on its stucco building.

The trustees agreed, however, that the 37-foot banner proposed by Kohl was too large and asked the architect to return with new drawings that downsized it. The museum readily agreed.

The Glenview Village Board voted to allow Hertz Rent-A-Car to open a small office in the shopping strip at 1833 Waukegan Road, despite traffic concerns raised by Trustee Guinane. "With the amount of congestion at that location," he didn’t like the idea. "We know that Waukegan and [Chestnut] is one of the most dangerous intersections in town. Isn’t this business more suited for an area like Johns Drive?"

Hertz said there would be no more 10 cars on the premises and any given time and the facility would handle no more than 25 business transactions a day, generating fewer cars than many other possible businesses at that location. "I have no problem with Hertz coming to Chestnut and Waukegan," said Trustee Denefe. "Twenty-five is nothing. It’s absolutely nothing!" Other members of the board apparently agreed, voting unanimously to allow the car rental office to open.

Glenview is once again rewarding employees who have excellent attendance with $50 gift certificates to the restaurant or food store of their choice. This year the taxpayers picked up a $4,650 tab with the largest amount going to Hackney’s. The village gave away $700 worth of gift certificates to that politically-connected restaurant on Lake Avenue, $600 each to the Noodle, TGI Friday’s and Dominick’s. Village employees got $350 in scrip to dine at The Glen Club, $300 for Lalo’s and $250 to buy from Trader Joe’s.

Park board commissioners and staff have announced several new efforts to build business. School District 34 will meet with the parks to discuss adding golf to the physical education curriculum. Teachers at the new Attea Middle School next door to Park Center will be invited to tour the fitness center where Commissioner M.J. Coulson says they could "work off a stressful day at middle school." They’ll also be shown the coffee kiosk, where lunch could be found if they tire of cafeteria fare.

Coulson, who is a marketing professional, also proposed a grand opening for Swenson Park on Shermer just south of Glenview Road at dinner time Friday, June 27 so participants could dine afterward at the Glenview golf course café. That restaurant, located across the street, has fish fries scheduled for May 30 and June 27. The café also serves breakfast and lunch on a daily basis. For information call 847-657-3200.

Finally, Wagner Farm will host a breakfast from 8 a.m.- 1 p.m. Saturday, June 21. The day will feature bacon and eggs, exhibits and demonstrations by Kraft Foods and the International Dairy Association, wagon rides and games. Call 847-657-1506 for reservations.

– If you’re looking for a meaningful vacation this summer, consider heading west to the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota – the poorest county in the nation. Volunteers will be fixing up old homes and building new ones between July 20 and August 16. Residents would also welcome donations of clothing and medicine. If you have something to give or would like to be part of the construction effort, send an e-mail to mgray@afsc.org.

– The library seeks young volunteers to help children with the summer reading program. Kids who will be in the eighth grade or high school next fall and have six hours to give should call 729-7500 and ask for the Youth Desk.

Glenview’s village board decided to delay a vote on establishment of a Natural Resources Commission for two weeks, giving the park district and area residents time to comment on the proposal. The new panel would make a list of the area’s wild places – open areas like the Techny Basin, Lake Glenview and the Air Station Prairie -- and establish management plans for them.

Trustee Guinane thought it might be wise to put a couple of park board members or staff on the new commission, but Trustee Lerner was dubious. "Since this is a village commission, I’m not sure an elected park district official can sit on it," he said.

"Hmm, Good point," said Carlson, apparently forgetting that the comprehensive plan commission he chairs includes two members from the park board.

Carlson stressed that only five people would be appointed, dismissing Guinane’s call for seven commissioners with a puzzling explanation. "It’s easier to start out with five and, if the work load is there, to expand it to seven than it is to start out with seven and find out you only need five." (Has such an assessment ever been made for any other village commission? How much work does it take to keep five people busy versus seven?)

Resident Cathy Wilson asked about six-year term limits listed in the proposed ordinance. Village Manager Paul McCarthy replied, "I made a clerical error, and what you saw was language that was probably cut and pasted from some other city’s ordinance. That should never have been in there. There are no term limits intended."

Glenview is now accepting resumes from anyone interested in serving on the natural resources commission, a group expected to form after the next village board meeting, June 3. The panel is supposed to include Glenview residents with expertise or interest in ecology and biology, engineering, environmental law or public health. Send your particulars to LarryVillage@aol.com or by mail to Village President Larry Carlson, 1225 Waukegan Road, Glenview, IL 60025.

Editor’s note: What a pity that Glenview has to cut and paste new ordinances – following the lead of more progressive communities. Worse yet, we exclude good ideas like term limits so the same conservative clique can control local government indefinitely. We ought to establish limits on terms for all village boards to assure new energy and ideas in local government.

Several years ago, Glenview joined in a lawsuit that ultimately abolished federal protection for most of the nation’s wetlands. Now, State Representative Karen May has introduced a bill that would establish state protection for these ecologically important areas, arguing they provide critical flood protection, help to clean our water and provide important habitat for wildlife. Groups representing home builders and realtors are working to block House Bill 422. The bill specifically exempts Chicago and the six collar counties. Glenview’s representatives Beth Coulson and Elaine Nekritz are planning to vote for the measure anyway, and Coulson says she’s working to assure that Cook County has a wetland protection bill that’s stronger than the state legislation, but newly elected legislator Naomi Jakobsson is wavering, and the Nature Conservancy has asked supporters to contact the Champaign Democrat and urge her backing. It’s easy enough to e-mail Rep. Jakobsson at n.jakobsson@worldnet.att.net. Just send a quick note asking her to vote for HB 422.

Village Hall is still smarting over the decision by two developers to build more than 60 condos on 10 acres off Landwehr Road in unincorporated Glenview. The Moore brothers had hoped to incorporate, but when the Glenview’s plan commission objected to the density of their development, they opted to stay outside the village and build under more lenient county zoning.

As the trustees prepared to vote on a resolution that would be attached to deeds, warning prospective buyers that they would not get village water or police services, Trustee Guinane asked Village President Carlson about that idea he had for posting a sign in front of the fire station opposite the Moore’s property.

"I hadn’t talked to the rest of the trustees about that, but now that the cat is out of the bag," said Carlson with a giggle. "What occurred to me is, somebody’s going to come in there, purchase one of the units, get their check and get all the way to the closing, and then they’re going to find that that’s recorded on the deed. I think we need to protect the people who wish to purchase in this area. To that end, I had mentioned casually to Trustee Guinane that we may want to consider erecting on the fire department property some signs so that those people who are going to buy there know, in advance of their purchase, that it is not in the Village of Glenview."

Editor’s note: We’ll be very surprised if the board proceeds with this childish scheme. For one thing, it invites a lawsuit, since Glenview has not done this to any other development in unincorporated areas. It’s also worth noting that people buying from the Moores will pay lower taxes than those who live in the village. We have no reason to think their police protection, provided by the Cook County sheriff, or their water from a deep well will be inferior to what village residents get. It might make the egos at Village Hall feel better to advance that claim, but a sign warning prospective Moore customers away would be arrogant and misleading.

Glenview’s State Representative Beth Coulson is declaring a partial victory in the fight against spam. Her bill, requiring those who send junk mail over the Internet to provide a toll-free number or return address, awaits the governor’s signature to become law. "Unsolicited e-mail or ‘spamming’ is one of the most irritating Internet practices," Coulson says. "I know large companies like AOL and Microsoft are trying to find ways of stopping spamming entirely, but until they come up with something, all we can do is chip away at the practice." Under House Bill 2972, consumers could notify spammers that they don’t wish to receive further e-mails, and those who send junk e-mail would then be prohibited from sharing the consumer’s address with anyone else. What’s more advertisers would be required to identify themselves by including the letters "ADV" in the subject box.

SS asks about weed control: "Are there any weed killers that are safe for the environment – products that could be used by local government, parks and schools? The dandelions and other weeds are so predominant in some public lawns that it appears there are more weeds than grass. I also see this on the easement beside Osco at Lake and Waukegan and at the Dodge dealership. If weeds are not eliminated, their seeds spread to other lawns. They really look terrible and make people with allergies miserable. I do not think you would see that type of neglect in other nice towns."

The Watch replies: There are a number of products that can be safely used on home and public lawns, and Wilmette’s village board has passed an ordinance requiring their maintenance crews to use these environmentally-friendly products. Other "nice towns" take a different approach to the lawn problem in some places. Evanston has planted beautiful grasses and wildflowers along the Northwestern train line while Northbrook seeded its Meadowhill detention pond with prairie plants. These species thrive in local soil without fertilizers or pesticides, and they provide valuable habitat for grassland birds and butterflies. Prairie vegetation, which has also been planted around Lake Glenview and the Techny Basin, is less likely to cause allergies, because the pollen of these native plants is heavy and does not travel far by air. You can learn more about this subject and about safe lawn products by talking with your favorite local nursery or garden supply store.

CM asks about the old Nicor property near the corner of Golf and Shermer: "Ok, the neighbors are restless! As we see trucks and supplies and concrete being removed, we wonder what's up? Someone has to be paying taxes, and who has the keys to the fence, and why are they removing concrete? I guess I just don't trust our village to keep the community posted."

The Watch replies: Glenview’s Development Department assures us no permits have been issued for work at that site, but Chris Clark at Glenview’s Department of Public Works suggests you may be seeing utility work in the area. SBC is upgrading its facilities and does not require a permit since it – like other utilities – has a special franchise agreement with the village. Plan Commission Chairman Howard Silver assures us you will hear about anything proposed for that site because it must be discussed by that panel before the property’s owner gets a permit to build. It would, of course, be helpful if Village Hall would publicize the plan commission’s agenda before its meetings so residents could attend or watch the proceedings on cable.

CM is also concerned about Patriot Boulevard – expected to carry 28,000 cars a day when The Glen is built out. Willow currently carries 36,000 a day, so Patriot is in for some serious traffic. CM writes: "We will all be laughing( or crying) when they take the beautiful trees and landscaping out of the median throughout The Glen to make the roads four lanes! What a mess that will be! Don't forget, sometimes less is more!"

SM asks about Glenview police and the forest preserves: "Does Glenview send any police on bicycles into the forest preserve to keep people aware that there is some surveillance there? I have called the Glenview police about an exhibitionist in the forest preserve, and they told me that I had to call the forest preserve police. Well, hello! By the time the forest preserve police got there, the person ruining my bike ride would be out of sight. I am hoping that the Glenview police would send in cops on bikes. I have seen them further north around Glencoe but never around here."

The Watch replies: Glenview’s bicycle police do sometimes ride through the forest preserve, and officers will respond to calls for assistance there. We’re not sure why the dispatcher you reached turned you away, but in this case and in all situations involving a service you need, it’s sometimes necessary to be persistent and insistent. If you don’t get what you called for, ask for a supervisor, and if you still don’t get satisfaction, remember that public servants report to the village board, and the village board reports to you. E-mail addresses for the trustees are available on the village website: www.glenview.il.us. Naturally, getting into that site is a challenge, but if you enlarge the homepage to full screen, you’ll see a small button toward the bottom right corner that says "Enter." Click there, then check the top of the screen for access to information about members of the village board.

EB has an idea for the library: "I wonder why the village doesn't consider a deal with the paint store next to the library. Glenview could purchase the old Renneckar’s building, give it to the paint store owners and use the property next to the library for parking. I'm not convinced we need a much larger library, but the parking is necessary. Glenview made a deal such as this with a paving contractor when the property near Willow and Lehigh was needed. The village also purchased property at the corner of Waukegan and Lake. I would think a deal to benefit downtown and the library could be paid for from all that money from The Glen earmarked for old Glenview."

An observer laments changes at Wagner Farm: "Rustic, old Wagner Farm with its classic Andrew Wyeth weathered look seems to be slipping away as the Glenview park district continues to overlay a new look. C.O.W.S, the citizens watchdog organization dedicated to preserving the historic farm for Glenview taxpayers, has stood by and watched for far too long, barely exhibiting a bark and definitely no bite. C.O.W.S’ first big mistake was its failure to support one of its board members and co-founders in his quest to represent Wagner Farm on the Park District Board of Commissioners. C.O.W.S leadership wimpishly refused legally acceptable ways to publicly back Mike Luxem, preferring to remain fearfully silent on the sidelines as he languished then lost the election. Next, C.O.W.S’ survey of preservation preferences for Wagner Farm generated responses from almost 200 dues-paying member households and over 400 non-member households. Unfortunately, C.O.W.S’ lack of knowledge and sophistication in scientific survey methods allowed the Park District to dismiss the poll as not representing all park district taxpayers. C.O.W.S naive leadership diluted the quantitative impact of survey findings and with it their farm preservation leverage. The group’s leaders may finally be figuring that out, but it could be too late for C.O.W.S and historic Wagner Farm."

The Watch replies: C.O.W.S officials say their by-laws and charitable status make it illegal to engage in political activities, and they believe the results of their survey will eventually have impact on park district policy.

KH penned a note to The Watch over our failure to cover the hazing controversy in Northbrook: "I was shocked, appalled and extremely disappointed when I received the May 11 issue which had not a mention of the disgusting display by Glenbrook North students. It is an institution supported by Glenview tax dollars and has many Glenview students. How can you justify no mention of a major news event which has given several villages a black eye? You consistently report minor zoning issues in Northbrook. Why not a major fiasco with international exposure?"

The Watch replies: This story got so much local and national coverage we felt there was nothing we could add. Contrary to your assertion, the vast majority of Glenview high school students attend Glenbrook South, and we do not report zoning matters from Northbrook unless they have some bearing on issues facing Glenview residents.

YOUR TURN: Write to glenviewwatch@aol.com or 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60025. If you haven’t already done so, please consider making a contribution to support The Watch. Non-deductible checks should be payable to Glenview Watch. Thanks for your support and for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors.

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