No state grant request for symphony project in Naperville
The city of Naperville will not be asking officially for state money to support a potential Chicago Symphony Orchestra outdoor concert venue on the north side of the city.
In a 6-3 vote, the council stepped back from earlier plans to seek $12 million from the state to help the symphony buy property from Alcatel-Lucent, which owns a large site near Warrenville and Naperville roads.
Instead of officially seeking state money for the symphony project in the city's legislative priorities for next year, the city will include in the document a “position statement” in favor of the project.
“It's all for the betterment of our town,” said council member Paul Hinterlong, who was among those who supported including a “position statement” instead of explicitly including the symphony project in the city's legislative priorities.
Council members said they were hesitant to ask for state money to build a concert venue, which is not a necessity but a “nice to have” project, as council member Grant Wehrli called it. Wehrli, who opposed the action taken on the city's legislative priorities along with council members Doug Krause and Robert Fieseler, said the city should focus more on pushing against Senate Bill 16, the proposed changes to state education funding that would cut funds from many suburban school districts.
“Would you be OK with SB16 passing and we lose $9.4 million every year, but in return, we get $12 million back once for a music venue?” Wehrli said. “We need to focus not just on what's here, but how this interplays with everything else.”
The council previously had supported asking for state money to help the symphony build a new concert center in Naperville. But according to a memo from Amy Emery, assistant to the city manager, the symphony actually asked council members to hold off on a specific request for $12 million because its plans are still preliminary.
The symphony has, however, completed a marketing study, operating plan, program plan and site assessment for a potential outdoor concert center on the Alcatel-Lucent site in north Naperville, Emery's memo said.
The symphony has been exploring potential West suburban sites for an outdoor concert venue for at least the past year, first considering sites in DuPage forest preserves before looking at Naperville.
“I hope this won't be construed as saying Naperville is not interested in having the Chicago Symphony Orchestra make its summer home, at least part-time, in Naperville,” council member Joseph McElroy said.
While the symphony project was removed from the capital projects section of Naperville's 2015 legislative priorities, four other projects remain in the following order: a North Aurora Road underpass at the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern railroad; a centralized traffic management system; a compressed natural gas fueling station; and a mobile integrated health care unit.
The priorities approved Tuesday also will contain a “position statement” in favor of funding for an agricultural interpretive center planned at the Naper Settlement.