Elmhurst Urged To Leave Open Space Alone

ELMHURST, IL – Residents in an Elmhurst neighborhood are renewing their push to leave alone existing open space.

The city is considering selling the land in question to a developer, but has made no decisions.

"(A sale) has major implications for the neighborhood that surrounds the green space and implications to all of Elmhurst fiscally," resident Christie Ainge told the City Council on Monday. "The green space as is provides so much benefit to the city by means of stormwater management, recreation and safe passage, and sustainability."

She was referring to the land between Schiller and Third streets. It is at the east end of Second Street and Elmhurst Avenue.

In 1975, the city struck a deal with Elmhurst Hospital to keep the land as a buffer with the hospital's old complex on Berteau Avenue.

More than a dozen years ago, the hospital moved to a much larger campus in the southwest part of the city.

The 50-year covenant to keep the land as open space ends in April 2025.

Ainge lives one block west of the open space. She said she remembers enjoying the land as a young girl visiting her grandparents, in the same home where her family lives today.

"It is a safe natural oasis to run, play, explore and connect with nature," she said in written comments to the council.

Nick Zanoni, whose family lives in the 100 block of North Willow Road, also urged the city to keep the land. He said no parks are within walking distance.

He said his 4-year-old daughter, Mia, calls the land the "speedy sidewalk," where she goes scooter racing.

"Just today we went on a family walk to the 'speedy sidewalk' looking for bugs to collect," Zanoni said in written comments. "My daughter got on her bike with training wheels, my wife put our 1-year-old in the stroller and I leashed up our dog. We headed over to the green space and looked for bugs, ran around and chased the bunnies and played 'fort' in one of the lower hanging trees."

Residents also pushed the City Council last year not to sell the land.

But officials are considering ways to generate income to pay for big-ticket items such as new police and train stations. They are estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars.