Proposed Lombard day care gets reluctant nod

Despite having a range of concerns, Lombard officials have taken the first step toward allowing a day-care center to move into a former school in a residential neighborhood.

Owners of Creative Day Learning Center, which operated in Villa Park for 26 years, are seeking approval to open in the former St. John Evangelical Lutheran School on South Lincoln Street.

Village trustees have given unanimous preliminary approval to the plans, though many said the proposal is troublesome for a variety of reasons, from the location to the suitability of the building. A final vote is expected when the board next meets on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Some trustees said they worry about setting a precedent of allowing a commercial, for-profit day-care center to operate in a residential neighborhood.

"The decision (to support the proposal) is based strictly on economics," Trustee Greg Gron said. "I am very concerned."

Creative Day owner Bill Dennis - whose wife, Cheryl, would operate the facility - disagreed that it would set a precedent because day-care centers already operate in residential neighborhoods in Lombard.

Others officials questioned whether the building could house a day-care facility. They were told in 2005 that the building was no longer suitable for a school and too costly to use. The argument helped persuade trustees to approve construction of a new school across the street, Trustee Richard Tross said.

"I was somewhat dismayed that when a building is unsafe for a school, it's suddenly being used for basketball games," Tross said. "I am very concerned with it."

Trustee Rick Soderstrom added, "I don't like being duped."

But Trustee Laura Fitzpatrick, who supported the proposal along with Trustee Dana Moreau, said the building could be a good fit for day care even if it no longer works as a grade school.

"Elementary classroom space is used differently than day care and preschool," Fitzpatrick said. "Good care-taking for our children is priceless."

When officials were considering the plans for the new St. John's school, several residents voiced concerns with its size, potential traffic and possible negative effects on the surrounding residential neighborhood.

But Dennis said Creative Day would be an asset to Lombard.

"We are not building anything. We are using existing space," he said. "We also believe it will be a benefit to the community."

A few Lombard residents spoke in favor of Creative Day, which lost its space in Villa Park last summer.

"Her business has a solid reputation. Creative Day Learning Center would be a good asset to Lombard," said resident Jeanne Johnson, whose son attended Creative Day in the mid-1990s. "I would hope Lombard would welcome business, considering this economic climate."

One neighbor expressed concerns that approval of the day-care center would prompt homeowners to seek permission to operate cafes, bed-and-breakfasts and other businesses in their houses.

"Times are rough. Times are hard," Karen Ness said.