What a special, insulting, facile editorial [Not a blight, a victory, Our Views, Viewpoints, Feb. 25] WJ chose to print to vilify the dissenters of the Grove Apartments. Those who protested the development are, according to the editorial, dizzy, narrow and mean-spirited.
I wonder if the editors considered what their darling project represents to the south village. Maybe the “mean-spirited” protesters were frustrated that the village concentrates most of its resources to Lake Avenue and points north. Marion Street gets pretty bricks; Madison Street gets a subsidized housing project. Ridgeland gets a new $25 million recreation center and Madison is paid lip service with hundred-thousand-dollar drawings of sunny bike paths and nonexistent pedestrians.
Maybe the narrow community that the south village is just can’t appreciate village dynamics. The village can bleed for the unfortunate, neglect the south village, and still hold proud the banner of inclusiveness. Maybe those dizzy protesters hope that, one day soon, the village will wake up and see that the best opportunity to boost the tax base and grow the community is to revitalize a portion of the village that has been neglected for decades.
The village could start by letting go of the Foley-Rice eyesore. The preservationists are wrong if they think E.E. Roberts would have wanted one of his projects to remain a poke in the village’s eye long after its useful life. The only possible purpose the building could serve today is as a discotheque and that’s not going to happen.
Letting the Foley-Rice building go would be a strong signal to developers that the village is a less onerous place to do business. Maybe the village could build a park and a sports field. There are a lot of people south of Lake who like trees and exercise. A visible green space along Madison would be a boon for the area and would attract businesses and development.
These and many other changes require commitment by the village, the whole village, all its taxing bodies — and funds, on the order of tens of millions of dollars. To put that into perspective the funds needed would be, say, maybe a fifth of the amount the high school has squirreled away the last few years.
Rather than glom onto the more hateful and flagrant comments that the protests engendered, WJ would better serve Oak Park by digging a little deeper into the feelings of the neighbors who truly want a better village.
Those are just some parochial thoughts of one who also protested the Grove Apartments.
Michael O’Malley
Oak Park
