Orland Residents Have Mixed Reaction To Big Summer Plans

ORLAND PARK, IL — Reaction was mixed over the weekend to the Friday announcement by the village of Orland Park that all traditional summer events, plus three new concerts in Centennial Park West, are planned to go on as scheduled even as it remains to be seen whether the spread of the new coronavirus has hit its peak in Illinois.

Comments have been made on both the Orland Park Patch Facebook page and Orland Park Patch homepage either supporting or opposing the plan. The underlying theme from those who support the plan is that, at some point, it will be time to move on.

"There will never be a 'right time' to have events anymore," one wrote.

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Others called the village plans "a sign of hope" that things will get better soon.

"If you don’t want to be around a lot of people, then simply just don’t go. The rest of us want to move on and get past this."

"They can always cancel. I think it is a positive outlook and something to maybe look forward to," wrote another.

RELATED: Orland Park Plans Summer Events Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

But passionate arguments were also made against the re-opening idea.

"Part of me wants to go on, then the reality of a friend in ER that can barely breathe fighting for his life tells me no," said one.

Another pointed to data that showed 128 confirmed coronavirus cases in Orland Park and 132 the next day.

"How can we possibly talk about reopening anything if our numbers are going up each day?"

Concerns with overloading the healthcare system should the virus spread during an event with hundreds or thousands of people were also mentioned.

"It is not just about 'let it be our choice' this has to do with overloading our healthcare system after the virus runs rampant through the crowds of people that decided to go to a public event and then those people take it home to their families and coworkers. Don't forget the images in Italy of people laying in the hospital hallways dying because they did not have enough beds."

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau told those debating the idea that guidelines for reopening all events have varied from 4-6 weeks from now, and "all indications are we will start reopening sooner" than May 31.

"We will adapt and adjust as needed," he said.

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