Residents are wanting answers to why the Downers Grove Park District recently cut down about 40 trees at Patriots Park.
The tree removal at the park, 55th Street and Fairview Avenue, prompted seven residents to attend the April 3 Park Board meeting asking for an explanation. The loss of trees changed the aesthetics, according to resident Joane Ramsey.
“I understood it to be done for maintenance,” Ramsey said. “We want to ask the board for reasons beyond maintenance. To us, there was no other good reason.”
Ramsey said she had called Todd Reese, director of parks, who told her the trees were being taken down due to a bug problem. She claimed the reason was invalid since not all the trees were infected.
“The answers we get shift,” said resident Dale Faber.
During the removal process, residents had asked on-site staff why they were removing the trees, and the workers first said they were just thinning out the area. Later, they said removing all the trees was in compliance to the district’s master plan.
“We do not have a master plan for that park,” said Park Board President Bob Gelwicks.
“We will potentially in the future. What I heard them (other board members) refer to was planning strategies of the entire district of clearing out — that’s what you saw the results of.”
Reese clarified at the meeting diseased and non-native trees were removed, but the rest of the trees were cut down after not much was left.
Park District Administrator Dan Cermak explained the area chopped down was a “volunteer tree line,” meaning the trees had not been planted there, but had voluntarily taken root. A second area of the park was cut to remove problematic buckthorn and mulberry trees.
Cermak said the trees in question served no recreational purpose, and there also was a safety factor involved.
“Kids hide in there and do things we don’t want them to,” he said, later adding that they drank and took drugs in the area.
Ramsey noted people can do drugs anywhere and asked, “Are we going to eliminate all the trees in the park?”
The residents also expressed concern a sound barrier from 55th Street traffic is now eliminated.
“We wanted to create a vista from 55th Street,” Cermak said, noting 30 years ago the tree line did not exist. “We wanted to open up that park.”
Some residents expressed disagreement with that mindset and wanted assurance from the Park Board that a similar incident would not occur.
“If you were doing this to please the public, you guys took a big miss,” Faber said. “Nobody I’ve talked to is thinking it’s a good view.”
Gelwicks said he did not want the Park Board getting involved in the approval of every tree. However, Gelwicks said the district “erred” by not recognizing this was a major change to the landscape.
After that concession, the residents noted a few young saplings still existed and asked that those be left alone. The board did not make that guarantee but they passed a motion that any action would be put on hold for 30 days to allow for resident input.
“We could still have people upset with us, but at least we’ve had that dialogue,” Gelwicks said.
