La Grange Today

Passersby can't help but notice theater facelift

Gutted lobby of La Grange Theatre

Sidewalk supervisors this week can view the renovation underway of the entrance and lobby at the La Grange Theatre, which this morning looked cavernous, literally stripped to its brick walls. But this afternoon, workers were wheeling in a pallet of ceramic wall tiles from DeSitter Flooring, offering a first hint of the new look to come.

Owners John Rot and David Rizner plan to reopen the theater on May 1, just in time to welcome a potential army of new patrons who learned about the theater and its facelift (partially underwritten by $1 million in financial aid from village taxpayers) from reading a huge spread in last Friday's Chicago Tribune.

Buddy Holly tribute benefits SEASPAR programs

A benefit concert Wednesday, April 29, featuring the music of Buddy Holly will raise money to fund recreational programs for disabled residents throughout the west suburbs.

Buddy and Beyond features Johnny Rogers, a Chicago resident who has gained national acclaim for his performance as Holly, replete with the signature black glasses, the voice, and impressive guitar playing.

The show begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave in downtown Downers Grove.

Proceeds will benefit SEASPAR, a non-profit entity that provides year-round recreation services for individuals with disabilities as an extension of park districts in Clarendon Hills, Darien, Downers Grove, LaGrange, LaGrange Park, Lisle, Westmont, and Woodridge, and the villages of Brookfield, Indian Head Park, and Western Springs.  

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance at the SEASPAR office, 4500 Belmont Road, Downers Grove. For more information, phone Lisa Rasin at (630) 960-7600.

Next hearing on park sale petition May 18, probably

A hearing on a petition from the Park District of La Grange to sell two parcels of land from Gordon Park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) likely will take place on May 18 before Judge Susan Fox Gillis of the Cook County circuit court.

The hearing date was verbally agreed to this morning by all attorneys involved in front of Judge Patrick E. McGann, the chief judge of the court's county division, who held his own hearing to formally assign the case to Judge Gillis.

But the court order prepared by Park District attorney Robert Bush and signed by Judge Gillis omits any reference to a date. It does, however, state that the hearing will begin at 11 a.m. in Rm. 1703 of the Daley Center.

Among the first items Gillis likely will address is a motion to dismiss the petition from Joan Johnson, attorney for a citizens group who oppose the parkland sale. Johnson said she will argue that the petition is almost identical to one filed by the park district in Oct. 2007 and subsequently dismissed by Gillis in June 2008.

Gillis at that time ruled that legal descriptions contained in the sales contract with ARP and a title insurance policy included a vacant portion of Shawmut Ave that lies between the two parcels. Thus, the amount of land involved was 3.5 acres not 2.82 as the park district maintained. Under Illinois law, the circuit court can directly approve the sale of parkland only if it is less than three acres.

Johnson said she will base her dismissal motion on res adjudicata, a legal doctrine that bars rehearing cases in which there already has been a final judgment.

Bush has argued that the new petition involves a new contract between the park district and ARP, in which the legal description has been amended to omit the vacated roadway.

Johnson said any effort by the park district to amend the legal description should have taken place during the hearings on the first petition.

Park officials initially said they would appeal Gillis' ruling but ultimately did not, opting instead to ask district voters to authorize the sale in a public referendum in November. Voters did support the referendum by margin of 55 to 45 percent, and a public auction of the land was held Jan. 8 in which ARP was the sole bidder.

But a lawsuit filed by Orlando Coryell so far has prevented the sale from closing. A trial in that lawsuit is scheduled to begin June 1 in front of Judge Leroy K. Martin Jr. of the court's chancery division.

Park lawsuit drags on, but ARP sticking with project

The president of Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) today said that while a lawsuit has prevented his company from purchasing a portion of Gordon Park and breaking ground for a major redevelopment of the former Rich Port YMCA site, he has no intention of walking away from the project in the foreseeable future.

Questions whether ARP would stick with the project surfaced earlier this month when the company's attorney expressed concern to Judge Leroy Martin Jr that a hearing in the lawsuit scheduled for June 1 might cause ARP to reconsider its commitment.

ARP president Richard Aaronson today said that his company's investment over the past two years in the project, known as La Grange Place, was significant enough that he was "very resistant to not find a way to continue to pursue the project."

Aaronson said he would testify in the June trial if called upon but that he had not yet been requested to do so by attorneys for either the Park District if La Grange or Orlando Coryell, who is suing to block sale of the parkland.

The trial will determine if a public auction conducted Jan. 8 by the park district satisfied requirements in the Illinois Park District Code.

Coryell contends that favoritism shown to ARP, including approval by the village board of its redevelopment plan and related rezoning, created an unlevel playing field and discouraged other bidders from coming forth. ARP was the sole and successful bidder at the January auction.

"I don't think [Coryell's] claim has any merit," Aaronson said. He said the fact that ARP already had received an approval for its site plan should not have discouraged other bidders.  Another developer could have outbid ARP and taken over its site plan, he said.

"It is not unusual at all for one developer to take over a project that was started by another," Aaronson said.

2009 village vehicle licenses required by May 1

The Village of La Grange finance department is reminding residents that all motor vehicles must display before Thursday, May 1, village vehicle licenses for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

Village Hall will be open for extended hours to accommodate last-minute license purchases:

• Saturday, April 25, 9:00 a.m. until noon.
• Thursday, April 30, until 7:00 p.m.

The cost for a passenger vehicle license is $20.00. Rates for trucks, recreational vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds can be accessed via this link to the village website. More information also is available by phone from the finance department at (708) 579-2300.

A late fee applies beginning May 1, 2009.

Status hearing Monday on Gordon Park sale petition

A petition from the Park District of La Grange asking the Cook County circuit court to directly approve the sale of 2.82 acres of Gordon Park will be the subject of a status hearing Monday, April 27, before Judge Patrick E. McGann, chief judge of the court's County division.

The hearing will take place at 11:00 a.m. in Rm. 1703 of the Daley Center in downtown Chicago.

McGann is unlikely to take any action other than to direct the petition to Judge Susan Fox Gillis, who considered and subsequently dismissed a similar request from the park district last summer.

The petition was remanded to the County division after an unsuccessful attempt by attorneys for the park district to have the petition heard by Judge Leroy K. Martin of the court's Chancery division, where Martin is presiding over a separate but related lawsuit to stop the parkland sale filed by resident Orlando Coryell.

Martin declined to consider the petition, stating his belief that Judge Gillis "is the very best person to decide this case."

Arbor Day 2009 ceremony at Seventh Ave School

Arbor Day in La Grange will be celebrated Friday, April 24, with a ceremony at the Seventh Ave Elementary School where students will plant a tree to mark the occasion. The event begins at 10 a.m.

La Grange trustees last week adopted a proclamation recognizing the role the village's "urban forest" plays in providing both aesthetic beauty and environmental benefits. 

Village president Elizabeth Asperger noted that La Grange has been named a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation for 26 consecutive years.

Library's Internet users likely to be village residents and, if not, they most often come from Brookfield

The seven computer stations in the reference department of the La Grange library from which the Internet can be accessed get such heavy use that some residents expressed concern that they were being displaced by users who were visitors from neighboring communities.

Consequently, the facility's staff conducted a study of the library card identification numbers with which users log onto the Internet computers. Turns out fewer than one in four users lives outside the village. But of those patrons who do, almost half come from Brookfield, comprising one of every ten Internet users at the La Grange library.

Library officials speculate that many residents from Brookfield's southwest quadrant patronize the La Grange library because it is closer than their own. The Brookfield library is situated on that village's north side. It is worth noting that Brookfield also offers Internet access to library cardholders from neighboring communities, including La Grange.

Judge dismisses five of six counts in Gordon Park lawsuit, orders trial before ruling on remaining count

A Cook County circuit court judge today dismissed five of six counts in a lawsuit seeking to block the sale of two parcels from Gordon Park, and ordered a trial for June 1 to hear arguments on the remaining count.

On the first count, Judge Leroy Martin Jr ruled that resident Orlando Coryell had no standing to challenge the park district's handling of procedures leading up to a Nov. 4 referendum, in which voters authorized the sale the two parcels, because he waited until after the referendum to file his lawsuit. Even if Coryell had taken legal action before the referendum, the judge said he would have dismissed the count because park officials, while admitting they did not comply with all procedural requirements, were in "substantial compliance."

On the second count, Martin said that it made no difference whether or not the park district had a sound basis for determining that the parkland it wants to sell is no longer useful or needed. The judge noted that in the statute governing the sale of parkland "nothing requires specificity" in making such a determination.

In dismissing counts four through six, all of which deal with aspects of the public trust doctrine, the judge said it would be unreasonable to take the position that parkland, once acquired, could never be sold or disposed of.

Addressing Coryell's specific contention in count six that the process for selling parkland set forth in the Illinois Park District Code violates the state's constitution, Martin said, "I couldn't quite frankly disagree more." He noted that the statute specifically calls for citizens to determine whether or not a parkland sale is appropriate. "The determination of voters is the greatest oversight anyone can find," the judge said.

On the third count, however, Martin said it was possible that the park district failed to provide a level playing field for all potential bidders at the public auction of the two parcels it held Jan. 8, in which developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) was the sole bidder.

"It would seem to me that ARP would have an advantage," Martin said, noting that the La Grange village board of trustees last year adopted an ordinance approving a plan submitted by the developer, with the park district's endorsement, to redevelop the park parcels along with adjacent land ARP would acquire from the YMCA. The planned unit development and rezoning included in that ordinance did not extend to any other potential developer. In fact, they would be rescinded in the event ARP did not acquire the land.

"I'm not sure we really have a public sale here," the judge said.

La Grange voting results for April 7, 2009 election

Updated at 10:09 p.m.

Below are the unofficial results of today's voting in contested races, as reported by the Cook County Election Department:

Park District of La Grange Commissioners
Four candidates seeking three seats; four-year term

Precincts counted: 16 of 16 (100%)

Candidates                           Votes        Percentage

Timothy J. Kelpsas            1,057            29.36%

Robert L. Ashby                      862            23.94%

Christopher Walsh                 862            23.94%

James W. Boo                           819            22.75%

 

SD Bd. of Education - La Grange 102
Four candidates seeking three seats; four-year term

Precincts counted 28 of 28 (100%)

Candidates                            Votes                        Percentage

Jennifer Comparoni            2,267                         31.26%

Mark Stenner                         1,941                          26.76%

Michael Guagenti                 1,851                          25.52%

Peter G. Daniels                     1,194                          16.46%

 

SD Bd. of Education La Grange Elementary 105
Five candidates seeking four seats; four-year term

Precincts counted: 14 of 14 (100%)

Candidates                                 Votes                         Percentage

Eileen Tucker                               784                              24.07%

Kristine R. Lonsway                  678                              20.82%

David R. Herndon                      632                               19.40%

Mark A. Smith                             600                               18.42%

Michael Warkentien                  563                               17.29%

HS Bd of Education Lyons Twp 204
Seven candidates seeking four seats; four-year term

Precincts counted: 74of 74 (100%)

Candidates                             Votes                             Percentage

Mark N. Pera                             3,788                             16.38%

George Dougherty                   3,707                            16.03%

William F. Purcell                    3,524                             15.24%

Todd M. Shapiro                      3,315                              14.34%

Raju N. Patel                              3,107                             13.44%

Allen D. Polich                          3,072                             13.29%

James A. Kohlstedt                 2,609                             11.28%