By Hafsa Mahmood Two structures along Lenox Road adjacent to Ackerman Park in Glen Ellyn will be razed in the coming months.
A total of three properties were purchased this year after residents agreed to give the park district $11.9 million to spend on projects last November.
In total, $2.5 million were designated for land acquisition and park officials plan to purchase more land with $1.7 million also approved by voters.
In June, the park district purchased a house at 927 Lenox Road for $295,000. In March, they purchased a home on two lots at 921 Lenox Road for $390,000 and in February officials closed on a house at 931 Lenox Road for $450,000.
A park district employee currently is residing in the property at 921 Lenox. As a result, that home won't be razed as of yet.
The recent purchases have helped increase Ackerman Park by about 2 acres, making it almost a 70-acre area.
Executive Director Cory Atwell thought it was a logical step to raze the structures and transform the areas into green space. He said it would be a waste of money to pay for heat, electricity, maintenance and any damage caused by storms.
Superintendent of Parks Dave Scarmardo said the other two homes are older and are vacant.
"We bought the homes to get the land, not the homes themselves," he said. "They don't really serve a useful purpose to us."
Once decisions have been formally approved, park officials will move forward with tearing down the homes in the coming months, hopefully taking them down before winter. Officials also expect to keep a garage on one of the lots for extra storage and resolve an asbestos problem.
Atwell said all neighbors would be notified before any work begins.
Mrs. Arten, Your abode is already being "celebrated" in another thread....seems so odd to know your home will be gone. How are you feeling about this?
"The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith. " -Bertrand Russell V. Delong
Posts: 3057 | Location: Glen Ellyn, IL | Registered: April 04, 2003
Originally posted by Amy: Mrs. Arten, Your abode is already being "celebrated" in another thread....seems so odd to know your home will be gone. How are you feeling about this?
I'd say she feels a whole lot richer....I know we are poorer because of it. Of course I'm referring to the community losing the Artens, not the bucketload of money we spent to finance their lavish Wisconsin retreat.
I am a dyslexic agnostic insomniac. I lay awake at night wondering if there is a dog.
Originally posted by Amy: Mrs. Arten, Your abode is already being "celebrated" in another thread....seems so odd to know your home will be gone. How are you feeling about this?
I think, in the end, it will be easier to know that the house is gone. I've never been too attached to things. The Mister is here with me and we have our memories, so that's what really counts.
We've had this house since 1989 and the one down the block for 6 years before that, so we've pretty much been a part of this community for a long time. Arten has been out brushing and signing the snowmobile trails with the guys from the club. I think I may volunteer at the local elementary school. That's always what I've liked to do. And there's always more boxes to unpack!
quote:
I'd say she feels a whole lot richer....I know we are poorer because of it. Of course I'm referring to the community losing the Artens, not the bucketload of money we spent to finance their lavish Wisconsin retreat.
We'll miss all you guys. But, the bucketload of money is invested and hopefully won't have to be touched, even as we live the next year without an income.(Pension doesn't kick in until 60.) It feels good to be "monied up".
