Tense Debate Over Wilder Park Bandshell

ELMHURST, IL – The Elmhurst park board disagreed Monday over whether the park district did a good job telling the public where the new bandshell would be.

At one point, a member suggested that a colleague had stirred up residents to oppose a planned site at the meeting.

During public comments, residents told the seven-member board that they had no idea the bandshell was planned for the lawn east of the Wilder Mansion.

They said the bandshell would block the sight lines for the mansion. It's an iconic Elmhurst building that is featured on the city's website.

Residents encouraged the board to consider other sites at Wilder Park.

But members said the site was included in a brochure before a proposed $90 million referendum in November.

The park district has scheduled three open houses for gathering public feedback on improvements to Wilder Park, including the bandshell. The first is next week.

At the meeting, member Vince Spaeth said the board needed to take comments on the site of the bandshell, not just the design.

The site in the brochure, he said, was the result of a decision between the district's staff and a consultant.

"Can we at least agree that we had a failure to communicate with the public?" Spaeth said.

"No," the board's president, Kevin Graf, said.

Member Meghan Scarsella, meanwhile, cast doubt on the feedback during the meeting.

"I think that the majority of people who are here are here as a result of you (Spaeth) reaching out to them with your concerns, which I certainly respect," she said.

Others objected.

"Wow, wow!" Spaeth responded. "I'm going to let that go over my head."

Member Susan Smentek said board members had received emails from residents who were "delighted" at the selected site.

"Happy people don't generally come to public meetings," she said.

She warned that the board would violate the public's trust if it continued to delay the project.

Spaeth said the public was the district's boss. He said it was apparent most in the community were out of the loop on the site decision.

At a meeting last month, Spaeth, who has been on the board for 18 years, said he had no idea members had settled on the site east of the mansion.

"I beg the board to listen to the community," he said at Monday's meeting.

Member Carolyn Ubriaco agreed with Spaeth.

Member Tim Sheehan said the board should be respectful of everyone's viewpoints.

"I don't want to fight about (what happened) before," he said.

Board members generally agreed that the open houses would include input on the location. They said no vote had been taken.

According to meeting minutes from May, Graf, Smentek, Scarsella and Claire Kubiesa – indicated they supported the site.

The first open house is set for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. next Tuesday at Wilder Park. Surveys are also planned.