Most Reject Elmhurst Park Board Majority's Preferred Bandshell Site: Survey

ELMHURST, IL – A big majority of Elmhurst residents who responded to a survey recently disagreed with the park board majority's preferred bandshell site at Wilder Park.

Last week, the Elmhurst Park District released the results of a survey on what the public wanted in a bandshell.

Seventy percent favored the ice rink site north of Wilder Mansion, while the rest chose the lawn east of the iconic building, which was the park board majority's choice.

According to the survey, 2,021 responded to the location question.

But the park district said another 514 responses were removed. Staffers found that many surveys had been completed back-to-back "in a very rapid sequential order" on certain dates by a singular IP address or device, a district memo said.

Survey Monkey, which the district used for the questionnaire, indicated the responses were from a "spam" survey taker or some kind of bot, the memo said.

Of the 514 responses, all but one favored the lawn east of the Wilder Mansion for the bandshell site.

In November 2024, local voters approved a $90 million referendum, which included a bandshell at Wilder Park.

In May, the district's board majority said it had already been established that the bandshell should be on the lawn east of the mansion. They said the spot was included in maps in pre-referendum literature.

But at least two members said they didn't know that the board had settled on a site. They said consultants had selected it.

In later meetings, residents showed up to protest the site, saying it would block the sight lines to the mansion. They suggested other locations.

The board's debates got particularly heated in July and August.

Finally, members agreed on a survey that included the location question. (A previous one during the summer did not.)

Board President Kevin Graf and members Claire Kubiesa, Meghan Scarsella and Susan Smentek preferred the site on the mansion's east lawn, saying that's what voters approved in the referendum.

The board plans to review the survey at 7 p.m. Monday at Wilder Mansion.