Park district stands alone in O'Hare fight

Even as Chicago prepares to start bulldozing properties in northeast Bensenville for O'Hare expansion, the fate of a neighborhood park in the area slated for demolition is in flux.

The city and Bensenville Park District are still at odds over the price of Schuster Park, parks and recreation director Bob Jarecki said.

The more than 6-acre park south of Irving Park Road and east of York Road has two playgrounds, basketball courts, walking paths and sports fields.

The park district needs to ensure it gets enough money to establish a replacement park, which could be difficult, Jarecki contends.

"The standoff at this point is over what we consider fair market value and what they consider is fair market value," Jarecki said.

Chicago officials cannot comment on ongoing litigation, O'Hare Modernization Program spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said.

But the court case won't affect Chicago's schedule and demolition is still expected to start around the end of January.

The city will begin its work at a distance from the park and is setting up protective fencing, Rodriguez noted.

"People visiting the park will not be impacted by the demolition," she said. "The area we're demolishing is not in the immediate area of the park."

The district is required to replace 5 acres of the park, because it was partly bought and equipped with funding from the federal government. The dilemma is that "for all practical purposes, Bensenville is landlocked," Jarecki said. "I don't know where there are five acres suitable for a replacement park."

For years, the village of Bensenville fought Chicago over condemnation of about 600 homes and businesses it needed to expand O'Hare International Airport and build six parallel runways.

The village settled with Chicago in November. The deal does require Chicago to follow environmental protocols when tearing down buildings, but Jarecki said he's concerned if the litigation is continuing by the time summer comes around.

"If it got dry, there could be dust there. We don't want people using a public park when demolition is occurring simultaneously."

Rodriguez said the city hoped the case would be settled before summer.

The next hearing in the case is Jan. 14.