La Grange Today

YMCA finally confirms demolition plans for Rich Port

A contract to demolish the vacant Rich Port YMCA building has been awarded to Heneghan Wrecking Co. of Chicago, Chris Ganschow, a spokesman for the Metropolitan YMCA of Chicago, said this afternoon.

Heneghan "very shortly" will apply for a demolition permit from the Village of La Grange, Ganschow said.

The announcement follows by a week a public statement from Village President Elizabeth Asperger, who said demolition of the five-story Rich Port facility, which has stood vacant for more than three years, likely would begin following this year's Pet Parade, to be held June 5. Work would begin with removal of asbestos from the building and an underground fuel tank at the site, Asperger said.

During the past week, YMCA officials declined repeated requests to confirm its demolition plans, stating only that discussions with village officials were ongoing.

Heneghan's name surfaced Monday in a story published online by the Suburban Life newspaper, in which Patrick Benjamin, the village's director of community and economic development said YMCA officials were "reviewing a proposal" from the wrecking company, which has been in operation for more than 30 years.

Reached by phone this afternoon, Benjamin said YMCA officials told him last week a contract with Heneghan was in the hands of its general counsel. Benjamin also said he had been told expect a permit application for the demolition in time for work to begin in June, following approval of the permit.

Shortly after learning of Benjamin's remarks, Ganschow announced the contract.

Ganschow said the YMCA had no specific plans for the parcel once the site remediation was completed.

"We will listen to any good idea someone brings forward," Ganschow said.

At the time the YMCA vacated the Rich Port facility it had a contract to sell the parcel to Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP), who planned to handle the demolition and construct a major residential and commercial project, known as La Grange Place, on the site.

But ARP's plan, approved by the village board in Spring 2008, was thwarted by legal action from residents opposed to the sale of 2.82 acres of Gordon Park, which ARP hoped to include in the project.

Asked if YMCA officials would consider building a new facility of its own on the site, Ganschow said that no options had been ruled out.

Former Rich Port YMCA building to be razed in June

UPDATED May 18:  After a week of evasion, YMCA officials today finally confirmed their plans to demolish the vacant Rich Port facility. Click here for details.

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After sitting vacant for more than three years, the former Rich Port YMCA has a date with the wrecking ball.

Demolition of the five-story structure is scheduled to begin in early June, La Grange President Elizabeth Asperger said in her opening remarks at Monday night's village board meeting.

The former Rich Port YMCA building will be torn down in June Click photo for larger image

"Our staff is working with officials from the Metropolitan YMCA, and we understand that work should begin after the Pet Parade (June 5)," Asperger said. "It will begin with asbestos and fuel tank removal and, following that, demolition of the building."

The YMCA moved out the building early in 2007, relocating its recreation and day-care programs to a temporary facility on 31st St in La Grange, after negotiating a sale of the Rich Port parcel to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

YMCA officials at that time said they intended to use the proceeds from the sale to purchase land elsewhere in the area on which to build a new facility.

In September of that same year, ARP announced plans to construct La Grange Place, a major residential and commercial development, on the site and an adjoining 2.82 acres of Gordon Park, which the Park District of La Grange in July had agreed to sell to ARP.

But legal challenges raised by residents opposed to the sale of parkland so far have thwarted the deal.

Last November, ARP announced that it was significantly downscaling its redevelopment plans in response to deteriorating conditions in the real estate market brought about by the recession that engulfed the nation in 2008.

A subsequent attempt by ARP to renegotiate its purchase price for the Rich Port parcel prompted YMCA officials to withdraw from the sale. The revised sum offered by ARP was insufficient to proceed with plans to buy land for their new facility, they said.

Rumors have circulated recently that YMCA officials are giving thought to building the new facility on the Rich Port parcel.

What's really for dinner? You might be shocked

Attend a free showing of the movie, Food Inc., this Sunday, April 18, at 7 p.m. at the La Grange Theatre.

This Oscar-nominated documentary explores the American food industry, vividly illustrating how the idyllic, pastoral family farm that many citizens imagine as the source of their daily meals is a fantasy. Instead, the film reveals that the vast majority of meats, vegetables, grains and dairy products we consume are produced and/or refined in enormous food factories replete with assembly lines, genetic modification and, frequently, unsanitary conditions.

"The Marlboro Cowboys should be riding through cornfields," film critic Roger Ebert wrote in his review of this film. "Corn, in fact, is an ingredient in 80 percent of supermarket products, including batteries and Splenda. Processing concentrates it. You couldn't eat enough corn kernels in a day to equal the number of calories in a bag of corn chips. Corn syrup can be addictive. And then there's fat and salt. A fast-food meal is a heart attack in a paper bag. Poor families can't afford to buy real food to compete with the cost of $1 burgers and $1.98 'meals.'"

Click here to watch the first minutes of Food Inc. online at youtube.com.

Sunday's free showing is sponsored by Go Green La Grange and the La Grange Public Library.

The La Grange Theatre is located at 80 S La Grange Rd in La Grange.

Judge ready to rule on latest Gordon Park sale petition, but action is at least a month away

The judge hearing the latest petition from the Park District of La Grange to sell a portion of Gordon Park to a developer today said she is ready to make her ruling, but that action will not occur until mid-May at the earliest.

At a status hearing held this morning in Cook County Circuit Court, Judge Susan Fox Gillis told attorneys for both the Park District and a group of residents who oppose the sale that she had spent the weekend reading motions for summary judgment that each side had recently filed with the court.

"I think I can rule on this rather quickly," Gillis said, without having to entertain additional arguments from either side.

But the judge acquiesced to a request from Tom Beyer, an attorney for the residents group, La Grange Friends of the Parks (LGFP) that both sides be allowed to file written responses to each others' judgment motions. Responses should be part of the court record in the event the losing party chooses to appeal the ruling, Beyer told the judge.

"They [Park District attorneys] took 40 days to write this thing," Beyer said, referring to a 34-page memorandum supporting the Park District motion, whose length required special dispensation that Gillis granted just last Thursday. Beyer asked for two weeks to prepare a response.

"Just because someone has talked for 34 pages doesn't mean they have said anything," Gillis quipped. But she cautioned the attorneys not to take her comment as any indication of how she might rule.

Gillis scheduled the next status hearing for May 10 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 704 of the Daley Center in Chicago.

In the motion filed on behalf of the LGFP, Beyer and co-counsels Mark Wohlberg and Joan Johnson argued that the sale petition should be dismissed because the amount of parkland involved in the sale still exceeded three acres, the maximum sale the court can approve under the Illinois Park District Code.

Gillis in June 2008 dismissed an earlier petition presented by the Park District on similar grounds, ruling that the legal description contained in the sales contract included a vacated portion of Shawmut Ave that adjoined the 2.82 acres the Park District proposed to sell to Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

Attorneys for the Park District, Robert Bush and John Shapiro, in their motion argued that the inclusion of the vacated roadway was an error that has subsequently been corrected with a land swap executed in Nov. 2008, whereby the Park District gave the .7-acre vacated roadway to the Village of La Grange in exchange for a village-owned parcel of similar size adjoining Gordon Park along Locust Ave.

But LGFP attorneys contend the roadway is still part of the transaction because both the sales contract with ARP and the land swap agreement contain language linking the two deals. If either one falls apart, the other does as well.

The LGFP motion also argues that the reasons cited by the Park District board of commissioners in declaring the parkland no longer useful or needed are flawed. Further, it contends that the propose sale violates the Public Trust Doctrine, which states that land dedicated for use by the general public cannot be disposed of casually.

In their motion, Park District attorneys argue that the reasons commissioners cited in determining that the parkland was no longer needed are outside the jurisdiction of the court.

While the Park District Code states that the court must decide whether or not the sale is in the public interest, Park District attorneys argue that the court's focus is confined to the outcome of the transaction and cannot include the legislative process itself, which they claim is privileged. The only exception, they said, would be if the commissioners' action was "arbitrary and capricious," which is not the case, they said.

Affidavits submitted with the Park District's motion include resolutions from the Village of La Grange and School District 102, along with statements from numerous local officials and businesspersons supporting the sale. Many of the some 27 affidavits express belief that the loss of a 2.82 acres of parkland is far outweighed by improvements to facilities in the remaining portion of Gordon Park that the sale will afford, and by redevelopment of the parkland and the adjoining former Rich Port YMCA parcel.

Park District attorneys also note that voters approved the sale of the parkland by a 55 to 45 percent margin in a Nov. 2008 referendum.

That successful referendum authorized the Park District to attempt to sell the same 2.82 acres of parkland at a public auction, which it held in Jan. 2009. But in a separate lawsuit brought by La Grange resident Orlando Coryell, another circuit court judge, Leroy Martin Jr., voided the sale when ARP emerged as the sole and winning bidder. Martin ruled that the Park District's pre-existing contract with ARP, and special zoning it received from the village for its planned redevelopment of the Rich Port Y site, and the adjoining the park acreage, gave the developer an unfair advantage over other potential bidders. That ruling is being appealed by the Park District.

Beyer this morning told Judge Gillis he intends to file a motion to strike most of Park District's affidavits related to its latest petition on the grounds that their conclusions are based on beliefs not facts.

Beyer later noted that the redevelopment of the Rich Port Y site is no longer a certainty as ARP has said the current economic recession has forced it to significantly downsize its plans for La Grange Place, a major mixed residential and commercial that would have been the largest private development project in the history of the village.

An attempt last November by ARP to renegotiate its purchase price for the Rich Port parcel was rejected by YMCA officials, who said the reduced offer was "insufficient" to allow them to proceed with plans to acquire land elsewhere in the area on which to build a new facility.

Here are links to view PDF copies of...

• La Grange Friends of the Parks motion for summary judgment
• Park District of La Grange motion for summary judgment
• Memorandum in support of Park District motion

Potters prepare 'empty bowls' to combat hunger

Empty Bowls, a community event designed to help fight hunger by raising funds for local food pantries, will take place April 22 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. in downtown La Grange.

Volunteer potters from throughout the area have been converging at Terra Incognito Studios & Gallery, 35 S La Grange Rd, where they are making hundreds of clay bowls in preparation for the event.

Anyone who purchases a bowl ($20 for adults, $15 for children) can take it to any or all of 19 participating restaurants and food retailers during the three-hour event and have it filled with soup, pasta, and desserts and other fare.

The money raised will be donated to food pantries at St. Cletus Church, Second Baptist Church and St. Francis Xavier Church.

Watch the video below to learn more about the event from Terra Incognito owner David Toan, and see the potters at work:

Palmer's celebrates St. Pat with five-day festival

Palmer Place, the popular restaurant and biergarten in downtown La Grange, is celebrating St. Patrick with its 27th Annual Shamrock Festival: five days and nights of Irish music, drink and, of course, green beer.

While you may have missed the initial festivities held this past weekend, they were just a warm-up to Tuesday and Wednesday's high points.

La Grange Today visited with co-owner Steve Palmer last Friday morning, and later on checked out the music and the first-night crowd.

Watch our video report below:

Crystal Lake man arrested, admits sexual encounter with Brookfield youth in the village parking deck

A 23-year-old Crystal Lake man was arrested Sunday night by La Grange police and charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse after admitting that he engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old Brookfield boy in the parking structure behind Village Hall, according to a press release issued Tuesday by police.

Scott Madura at booking

Scott Madura was taken into custody shortly after midnight when an officer on a routine patrol of the parking deck discovered Madura and the boy inside a parked vehicle.

During his investigation, the officer learned that the two were engaged in sexual activity and that the Brookfield resident was a minor, police said.

During questioning later at the police station, police say Madura admitted the sexual nature of the encounter and told them he met the boy in an Internet chat room.

Madura was arraigned Tuesday morning at the Cook County courthouse in Bridgeview, at which time bond was set at $200,000. A preliminary hearing on the charge is scheduled for March 22 at 9:00 a.m.

The Brookfield youth was released to the custody of his parents.

State grant will allow Park District to proceed with its plans for redevelopment of Gordon Park

The Park District of La Grange has been awarded a grant of $400,000 from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) program, Dean Bissias, the Park District's executive director, said today.

The money will be used to construct several new amenities in Gordon Park including a picnic area, splash pad and soccer field.

Bissias said he learned of the award at last month's conference of the Illinois Association of Park Districts.

An OSLAD grant must be matched with funds from other sources and must be spent within three years of the award, he said.

The Park District in 2007 announced plans to pay for its redevelopment of Gordon Park with $4.6 million in cash and other considerations it expected to receive from the sale of 2.82 acres of the park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).

The developer in turn intended to incorporate the park acreage into its redevelopment of the former Rich Port YMCA site, a major mixed-use residential and commercial project known as La Grange Place.

But sale of the acreage has been blocked by legal action taken by residents who are opposed to the loss of parkland.

Bissias said use of the OSLAD money is not constrained by the ongoing lawsuits. He hopes that work on the redevelopment of the park will begin later this year.

While $400,000 won't come close to paying for all the amenities included in its master plan for Gordon Park, it enables the Park District to begin work on some key amenities, Bissias said.

When asked how the construction of amenities could proceed without first laying down fill dirt the district hoped to obtain from ARP in order to raise the level of the park and improve drainage, Bissias said that clean fill was available from other sources.

Related story:

• Township board funds $508,000 in Denning Park improvements from bonds voters approved in 2004

7-Eleven store on Hillgrove Ave robbed at gunpoint

La Grange police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred Feb. 16 at the 7-Eleven convenience store at 201 W Hillgrove Ave.

A man described as Hispanic, six feet tall with a slender build and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants entered the store at 11:56 p.m. last Wednesday night, according to Police Investigator Dave Rohlicek. The man produced a black semi-automatic handgun and demanded money from a clerk, who was alone in the store at the time.

The man then fled north on foot along Ashland Ave with a small, undisclosed amount of cash, Rohlicek said.

The clerk was not injured, he said.

Anyone with information regarding the robbery is asked to call the La Grange police at 708-579-2334.

Di Nico's Pizzeria finally open for business

UPDATED 02/10/10: Di Nico's Pizzeria opens to the public today following a two-day open house for friends and downtown business neighbors. The video below offers highlights of Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Ever since Joe Piccione signed a lease last July on two adjoining downtown storefronts at 42-44 S La Grange Rd, and announced his plans to open Di Nico's Pizzeria, passersby daily have been asking him when his restaurant would open for business.

Joe Piccione, Di Nico's Pizzeria owner

Major renovation of the space, which had previously been occupied by a florist and a maternity fashion boutique, took longer than anyone, including Joe, anticipated.

But Di Nico's opening day, it appears, is almost and finally here.

Joe and his staff will welcome the general public beginning Wednesday, Feb. 10th, following a two-day "sneak preview" for neighboring business owners and their employees, village personnel, invited guests and friends.

Those festivities begin Monday at 11 a.m. when Village President Liz Asperger is scheduled to cut a ceremonial ribbon.