Far be it from me to give advice to Mayor Daley. But if he really wants to bring the Olympics to Chicago, I suggest he move the site of the proposed equestrian center out of Lake County. He’s planning to plop a 15,000-seat stadium, as well as stables, riding paths, and a barn, right in the middle of the Lakewood Forest Preserve, paving over 300 acres of marsh, woodland, and cornfields.
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At the January 9 meeting, board president Bonnie Thomson Carter made it clear that she and the board weren’t going to debate the matter: the center was coming whether the residents wanted it or not. (Carter has not returned my calls to her). She described the plan as a no-lose situation for the county: Lake County wouldn’t have to pay for the center, and once the games were over the stadium would be reduced to a 2,500-seat facility, not much of a long-term intrusion. She said the county planned to hire a private company to run the stables and operate riding programs there, with special classes for disadvantaged and disabled kids. The deal might even be a moneymaker.
But the board members had to have known there would be resistance. Lakewood Forest Preserve is home to 17 endangered species of animals and plants. Over the years the county pieced it together with several major acquisitions that cost millions of tax dollars. Bike riding, dog walking, and driving are severely restricted, and local naturalists are vigilant about what they view as unwarranted development. For the last few years they’ve fought a proposal to build picnic shelters there. “So of course we would erupt over the equestrian center,” Glenn says.
It’s not as if the city has the money lying around. The Chicago Park District is so broke it doesn’t have the money to patch the leaky field house in Marquette Park, repair the broken drinking fountains in Scottsdale Park, install working lightbulbs in the field house at Hamlin Park, hire staff to run the gym at Welles Park, patch up decrepit baseball diamonds in Washington Park, or build one–just one–indoor running track.
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