Officials to Reveal New Nature Preserve Plans For Rosehill Cemetery

A portion of Rosehill Cemetery will become a new green space, but not everyone is happy about it. 

Spearheaded by Ward 40 Ald. Patrick O’Connor, the West Ridge Nature Preserve will stretch one block south of West Peterson almost to Bryn Mawr and from Western Avenue to the first big service road. 

Clean-up is underway on the 20-acre plot of land, with an open date by the end of 2014.

Initial designs included an asphalt trail and spring-fed lake with fishing and a kayak launch. 

But the term “nature preserve” isn’t sitting well with some residents.

At a community meeting in February where officials revealed the park’s first draft, residents were concerned the expectation of a passive park morphed into the reality of an active park.

Bowmanville Community Organization President Claire Shingler shared those concerns at the group’s spring meeting in March.

“A nature preserve isn’t fishing; it could have a negative impact on the ecosystem,” she said, adding the first draft of the plan was developed without community input and created an "adversarial situation" with residents.

At that meeting, park district officials asked residents to form a park advisory council for input in future drafts.

A new draft of the plan will be shown at a second community meeting scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. at the 20^th District Police Station, 5400 N. Lincoln Ave.

“We incorporate changes per recommendations made by community members,” Chicago Park District spokesperson Zvezdana Kubat said in an email to Patch.

Kubat said current plans include restoration of the natural area, trails and fishing access.

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“I’m very proud that it’s coming together,” O’Connor told Patch in November. “The opportunity to find 20-some acres to add as green space that would be open to the city I thought would be a real plus for our community and for the North Side.”

The park space ends a 30-year battle over the land.

Rosehill Cemetery is unique in that when people purchased space for graves, they owned the plots like any other piece of land or house property.

In the 1980s, Potter Palmer III bought the cemetery from shareholders and tried to build a Jewel-Osco grocery store and other commercial developments.

“Over the years, there has always been an attempt by the owners of the cemetery to develop things here,” O’Connor said. “It was clear the neighborhood didn’t want commercial developments to take large chunks of the cemetery.”

Palmer wanted to create more developments and got into a legal battle with Chicago billionaire Lester Crown in the 1980s.

As a result of the lawsuit, the cemetery was divided into covenants, which separated what parts of the cemetery could be sold or developed. The undeveloped covenants could only be used for graves or green space, O’Connor said.

Palmer sold the cemetery to Texas-based Service Corporation International (SCI) in 1991. O’Connor said SCI, who owns Drake and Son Funeral Home south of the cemetery on North Western, wanted to move the funeral parlor to the northwest corner of Peterson and Western avenues.

With that stipulation, the city was able to purchase the 20.5-acre plot for approximately $8 million. Then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel earmarked funds to help purchase the property late in 2011, O’Connor said.