Debate brewing over park district storage site

Naperville Park District wants to continue using a portion of land near the Riverwalk as a storage facility.

Some residents, however, say the property's former owner, Jane Sindt, would have wanted the entire site to be treated as open space.

The district unveiled its proposal for improvements to the property at a recent open house.

In partnership with the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, park leaders purchased the seven acres at the far west end of Jackson Avenue from Sindt in the early 1990s.

Sindt was a preservationist and the first president of the Naperville Heritage Society. She also is known for helping create the Illinois Prairie Path and deliberately chose to sell her property to the park district instead of developers.

For years, the district has used two of those acres as a staging area for maintenance operations, according to park designer Mike Piszynski.

For example, when crews plant along the Riverwalk in spring, the stock is stored on the Sindt property.

Earlier this year, the house and shed on the site were demolished, leaving an ice house that Piszynski says is dilapidated and has materials containing asbestos inside.

The district wants to replace it with a storage building that would be similar in size, using the existing concrete foundation.

"The goal is to see how we can use that area more efficiently trying to consolidate operations on the site and reducing the impact," Piszynski said.

On the remaining five acres, some of which overlap with the Riverwalk's boundaries, the district has been removing invasive plant species and wants to replace them with native plants. Piszynski said staff also wants to install interpretive signs in the area to serve as an educational tool.

However, some residents have said the storage portion of the land should be consolidated even further and others say Sindt would have wanted the entire property to be left open because of her love of nature.

Piszynski said the staff will take those suggestions under consideration. But if the operations are moved, driving time would increase and there would be a safety risk for small utility vehicles the district uses if they have to be on city roads with full-size vehicles.

"We see the proximity to the Riverwalk as an asset because it allows us to keep up the level of maintenance we have been able to keep ongoing," Piszynski said.

The park district will continue to work on the proposal.