Plan to build senior center in park stirs up West Rogers Park r...

If the City and Stone want it you can bet there is something going on behind the scenes that benefits only their pockets and some special interest. Typical Chicago. Fight on people.

Sounds like the diverting of public land for private purposes is becoming a trend.

You can help prevent this from happening in Grant Park. Sign the petition at SAVEGRANTPARK.org .

interesting that the field house wasn't there when my family used the park in the early 80's. Nothing was there, no batting cages or hill just the playground equipment and the golf course and in the winter, the ice rink. If the building is built, it will take away either a soccer field or one of the playgrounds but it will cause even more traffic on the streets of Pratt or Western.
Why can't they use the Dominicks property...? It's plenty big enough.

The destruction of park land for development in Chicago is chilling. There is no respect for parks anymore. Apparently a grassy, tree filled area for everyone to enjoy is secondary to the potential for a few people to make a lot of money. Developers and the politicians they buy off make me sick, and the politicians and donors who spent their lives fighting for park space in Chicago must be rolling over in their grave. Remember that the lake front is park space. Montgomery Ward (the man) spent years fighting to reclaim the lakefront in the name of the populace and was maligned for it. He said he didn’t do it for the rich, but the poor and hopes he will be remembered for it. How long until the lake front and Mr. Ward’s legacy is raped by a callous developer? The precedent starts with building a children's museum in Grant Park…then a senior center…then all park land becomes a development free-for-all leaving this city with no free open space for everyone to enjoy. Chicago without parks is a miserable concrete desert wasteland. Don’t let developers from the suburbs take your park space for their gain and your loss. Tell the senior citizens to find somewhere else to live. The parks are free for the public and must remain that way.

What is going on? All these attempts to take over rare public park space in the city. There are neighborhoods in Chicago that are full of empty lots and abandoned buildings. Why are developments like the Children's Museum going there instead of robbing parks from the people? Geez, the mayor and city officials go all out to entice families to move into downtown and other areas and then wants them to live in a concrete jungle.

Daley is desperate to buy off anyone he can to keep his grip on power. Parks are a great asset to ALL in the community and he will trade that for SAFE votes from Seniors who will be bribed into voting for him. Daley uses fear and intimidation to RAM his Bad Ideas through the neighborhoods.

Buckingham Fountain night displays are cancelled during the "Taste". This irritates people visiting Chicago that they are deprived of this famous icon because of the whims of the nearby vendors, who should,t even be there in the first place. Are they more important than the fountain? Kate Buckingham must be turning over in her grave.

People were concerned that the Buckingham Fountain night display would be threatened when the vendors were first allowed there. "Someone" said "that will never happen"

Funny and sad at the same time.

For years we've screwed ourselves "for the sake of the children."

Now that the boomers are getting up in years it's time to screw ourselves "for the sake of the seniors."

Our stupidity knows no bounds.

Enough already wrote:

Funny and sad at the same time.
For years we've screwed ourselves "for the sake of the children."
Now that the boomers are getting up in years it's time to screw ourselves "for the sake of the seniors."
Our stupidity knows no bounds.

Excellent comment; eloquently stated and nicely put!

Plans for the senior center project started more than a year ago and construction could start as early as this summer, said Ald. Bernard Stone (50th), whose ward includes Warren Park. Public meetings were held last year for residents to voice their concerns and the Land and Water Conservation Act never came up, he said.

Shame on you Ald. Bernard Stone for not having any knowkedge of the Land and Water Conservation. That's YOUR JOB. Do the job that you were elected to to and get paid to do. Unless you did know about this and chose not to disclose?

And shame on you Mayor Dudley for lying about Chicgo being a green city. Planting some trees on top of highrises in the loop doesn't cut it you **** .

It doesn't surprise me that the Rogers Park area voted for a senile fool. No ethanasia editorial here, like for Hillary.

It seems as though there people in the Park District that don't get the concept of unstructured open space. If it doesn't have a specific field drawn up on it, it's under utilized and, therefore, needs to have something plunked on top of it. Aren't there many unused store fronts on Western Avenue that could be easily converted to meeting rooms like those currently in the Warren Park field house? Where are all those seniors clamoring for activities? Wouldn't it be cheaper to rent some store fronts than build something new at God knows what cost and cost overruns?

Parks are an old 18th century idea, we are in a new millennium. People no longer just sit around doing nothing at a park.

Build the senior center underground and put a children's museum in it. All the senior citizens can be docents there!

Samson wrote:

Parks are an old 18th century idea, we are in a new millennium. People no longer just sit around doing nothing at a park.

Get of the couch and get outside and you'll see how these parks are used.

Julie wrote:

Sounds like the diverting of public land for private purposes is becoming a trend.
You can help prevent this from happening in Grant Park. Sign the petition at SAVEGRANTPARK.org .

Why do we need to sign a petition if this land grab is against the law?

Samson wrote:

Parks are an old 18th century idea, we are in a new millennium. People no longer just sit around doing nothing at a park.

Just because you don't use parks doesn't mean you speak for everyone. The fact is that parks are public lands for the public. Every specific structure build upon that land narrows the demographic of users. If you cannot find anything to do in a park without a structured activity you are pathetic and need to re-examine your priorities.

Parks are not an obsolete idea. I cannot even express how angry and sick that line of thinking makes me. Parks belong to the public, not the park district, or the aldermen, or the mayor. I own that park just as much as anyone else, and to see what belongs to me taken and given to a specific group of people for the profit of another specific group makes me furious. Not only that, it is illegal, unfair, and insulting. Chicago's parks are some of the greatest in the world, and the sale and destruction of them by private, profit-driven causes is an affront to every concept of public land.

If you don't like parks and think they're obsolete, move somewhere that doesn't have parks. Chicago's parks are where I grew up. Warren Park is where I learned how to play football. Wildwood Park is where I learned how to play baseball and tennis and whiled away my free time for 20 years. Holstein park is where I swim and relax. These parks are just as integral to the development of countless children and the recreation of adults. If you choose to not take advantage of the parks for these purposes, that is your loss. However, do not dare take that from me. It is my civic right to use the parks and I will not be denied that right.

Also, Chicago wasn't even founded in the 18th century. You obviously know nothing about Chicago, nor do you care about its residents, parks, history, future, or any other aspect. It's one thing to be apathetic, but to aggressively destroy and undermine these groups, places, and principles is unconscionable.