Wearing grass down what Cook Park's for

Libertyville's current village president and trustees have stated before that they would like to move events away from Cook Park, in the center of Libertyville, for a variety of reasons that I've disagreed with. But now they are saying that the site of choice is Sunrise Rotary Park (formerly Central Park) on Broadway, next to St. Joseph's Church. I've attending village board meetings in which Village President Jeff Harger has stated that Cook Park should be the "jewel of Libertyville." He once had the village public works director speak of the damage being done to the grass in Cook Park by too many people walking in the grass while attending the Farmers Market, Lunch in the Park and other events. They stated that Cook Park should look like a golf course, with perfect grass to be watched from afar.

When my wife and I looked at a home in Libertyville 20 years ago, we came during Octoberfest, at Cook Park. We were amazed at how everyone in the village came to the central point of town and gathered. We knew immediately that we had found home.

There are many reasons why not to move events to Sunrise Rotary Park; parking is difficult for church events, parking for village-wide events would be disastrous. There are homes all along Sunrise Rotary Park, and the school and church on the other side. That's just too much congestion. Most importantly, it's not centrally located.

Trustee Peron has been quoted in the news as saying he "hopes to use developer fees that have been set aside to install fountains and other landscaping improvements to Sunrise Rotary Park, making it the "Millennium Park" of Libertyville." We can't get our alleys in that neighborhood paved, or streets salted in the winter, we sure better not be building fountains in town when money is said to be tight at village hall. And now we've seen plans released showing the water fountains, lighting and structures for vendors. Still, Harger denies it.

There are even more reasons to keep events at Cook Park. It's centrally located, drives people to businesses in downtown Libertyville, to the library, and is surrounded by businesses, not homes. And with our $12 million parking structure scheduled to be done this year, parking will not be an issue.

For me, I hope we wear the grass down to the dirt this summer at Cook Park. Then the park will have served its purpose, getting everyone in town together and involved.

Bill Oakes

Libertyville