Will Project Encroach Hinsdale Park?

HINSDALE, IL — Hinsdale officials expressed support for the local food pantry's plan to move from Village Hall to the old Humane Society building.

But the village president had a concern: The pantry's parking may reduce the size of the neighboring park where children like to sled.

Hinsdale Community Services has been at Village Hall since 1928. Now, the village and the group are considering moving the pantry to bigger digs in the old Hinsdale Humane Society building, 22 N. Elm St., which is village-owned.

As part of the plan, parking for the food pantry would be added to the north side of the building, where the village has a park.

"I wonder whether people will complain about us taking parkland," Village President Tom Cauley said. "I know in the wintertime, kids use that to sled. I'm not sure how much we're going to encroach the park. I would rather we not encroach at all, if we can avoid it."

Assistant Village Manager Bradley Bloom said the parking would encroach on the park "a little bit."

"But I don't think it'll interfere with sledding areas or any of the areas that are used now," Bloom said.

Cauley suggested the village consider making available its land across the street for use as a parking lot. Few drivers use the street, he said, so it would be safe for people to walk across.

Bloom said the village had checked that property for the possibility of a parking lot, but the grade of the land was a challenge, to which Cauley said the village could excavate it.

"You're likely to get residents upset," Cauley said. "Any time you take parkland away, people have a realistic and reasonable view that that's wrong because we seldom add to parkland. We're always chipping away at it. People have a reaction that we should never, ever take away from parkland."

Bloom said the village staff would look into it.

Village officials said the one-story Humane Society building would be better for the pantry because people don't have to go up three flights of stairs carrying food. The move would also free up space and parking for Village Hall and the library, they said.

A representative of the pantry said the group serves 100 people at its Hinsdale location every week and another 100 at Anne M. Jeans Elementary School in Willowbrook.

Cauley said the issue would come up again at the Village Board meeting in a couple of weeks.

"Other than the issue with parkland, we are all on board," he said.