

ia iis 
~ i ~- I,A.S. Newsletter, November 1965 




LOST - ONE SUBURBAN PARK: A LESSON TO LEARN 

It was only four acres in size, but Central Park in Blue Island, Illinois 
meant a recreation site for children and adults, The oldest park in that city is 
no more - it stood in the ambitious path of St. Francis Hospital, and therein lies 
a lesson for all citizens who would protect open land and parks. 



























For several years, the hospital administrators had been eyeing the site for 
a building addition; some local voices even suggested that the city should "donate" 
the park to the hospital. The park commissioners refused to budge and finally 
the hospital administration offered $50,000 for the park. This would still have 
been a donation in the eyes of many, because the park board felt it would cost 
over $250,000 to replace the facilities which included a baseball field, a garage- 
shop, tennis courts, a stadium and the trees and shrubs. 
The Illinois Audubon Society board objected to the sale of the land at $50,000 
price and was joined by the Cook County Council of the IFSC. A member of the Chamber 
of Commerce and a Hospital Trustee with whom I spoke, said the hospital "could mt 
afford" to pay the required price, Mayor John Hart, who owned a local drug store, 
was favorable towards the hospital expansion in the park. I read the local Blue Island 
Sun-Standard diligently but could find no local civic organization taking a public 
stand, Though the weekly printed some news about the issue, it apparently took no 
editorial position. 
Hi | Our "Letter to the Editor" of the Chicago Tribune which commended the park 
board for standing firm, finally resulted in mre wide open discussion in the Blue 
| Island press, When the I.A.S. was blasted by a local reporter for its stand, we 
replied that it mde no sense for one federal bureau to turn over oe million dollars 
to the hospital for its expansion program, while another federal bureau was seeking 
to save open spaces in the cities of the nation. One voice of doom suggested that if 
the I.A.S. wanted to preserve some open space, it should buy land for the city. 
A referendum was finally called for. It was fascinating to watch the campaign 
roll that final week. Hospital supporters took out a full-page newspaper advertise- 
ment, estimated to cost over $2,000, and scare leaflets were passed out by the 
hundreds, suggesting that unless the St. Francis Hospital obtained the land, it would 
have to depart the city, leaving the citizens without a hospital for their medical 
needs, A telephone campaign was organized, and even the mayor took out a paid ad 
urging a "yes" vote, The referendum carried by a vote of three to ons, with the park 
board and hospital agreeable to a price of $325,000. Interestingly, the mayor was 
defeated for ancther term in a later election this year, 
As we said in our letter to the Chicago Tribune, "In a land growing ever more 
crowded, there must be a better appreciation of the fact that park lands are not a 
'reserve' which can be drawn upon for other purposes," Whether the target is 
Kickapoo State Park, Jackson Park or Garfield Park in Chicago, Fairview Park in 
Decatur, or Illinois Beach State Park near Waukegan, illicit demands for park space 
must be met by an adamant NO. 
As Roland Clement of the National Audubon Society once said, "It is 
on the local level that conservation problems must be fought." There 
was no effective local conservation or civic club or committee of 
citizens to fight for the preservation of open spaces in Blue Island, 
and so a 75-year old park was lost. Will it happen in your town, too? 
- Raymond Mostek, President, I.A.S. 

