Wilder Park Master Plan Before Elmhurst Park Board

ELMHURST, IL – The Elmhurst park board on Monday is set to vote on a master plan for the south part of Wilder Park.

Last month, the board majority addressed the major controversy – the location of a proposed bandshell at the park. The decision contradicted what the vast majority of respondents indicated they wanted in an Elmhurst Park District survey.

A consulting firm, Upland Design, created the master plan.

This week, residents Jim Schuetz and Andrea Hutchinson said in a message to the district that the board should hold off on Monday's vote.

"The Board should revisit the bandshell location through a fair, transparent, and fact-driven process, and any final decision should reflect broad support from the full Board of seven commissioners — not a narrow majority marked by significant disagreement," they said.

Schuetz and Hutchinson opposed putting the bandshell east of the Wilder Mansion. They and others contended the bandshell would ruin the sight lines to perhaps Elmhurst's most iconic building. They preferred another area of the park.

The park board meets at 7 p.m. Monday at Wilder Mansion, 211 S. Prospect Ave.