Daily Herald opinion: Lombard library, park district should be applauded for deal that expands Lilacia Park
The historic park in downtown Lombard that inspired the town's “Lilac Village” nickname is expanding.
Lombard Park District announced last month that it had officially taken ownership of the vacant property along Maple Street where the old Helen Plum Library once stood. The land will become part of neighboring Lilacia Park.
“It's an exciting opportunity to expand the park and really offer a more open space for the community and add to the existing, beautiful gardens that are already at Lilacia Park,” Joe McCann, the park district’s executive director, told senior writer Katlyn Smith.
Lilacia Park has been the crown jewel of Lombard since Col. William R. Plum donated the horticultural display to the village when he died in 1927.
In addition to gifting his lilac garden, the colonel donated his house so it could become the original Helen Plum Library, named for his wife. The library constructed a building decades later next to the park.
More than eight years ago, Lombard voters approved a property tax increase for an expansion. Helen Plum officials sought the tax hike for a project to replace the library with a new 50,000-square-foot building.
However, that project faced repeated delays. One of the problems was that library officials were unable to create a plan for the Maple Street site that could pass muster with the park district.
Park commissioners were concerned that a taller library building would diminish the beauty of the Lilacia Park and deprive some of its flowers of sunlight. The park district also sought to safeguard a coach house built originally as a part of the Plum estate.
After more than three years of failed negotiations with the park district, the library bought a former supermarket site near downtown. The new state-of-the-art Helen Plum Library opened at 411 S. Main St. in 2023.
That same year, in March 2023, the park district and library approved a deal for the park district to acquire the old library property. As part of the agreement, the library demolished the building and cleared the site. The park district contributed $350,000 toward the demolition as payment for getting the land.
Today, you cannot tell that a building once stood there. A temporary fence remains around the property to allow turf to grow. Meanwhile, the historic coach house has become the most visible structure as you approach the corner of Maple Street and Park Avenue.
McCann told Smith that ideas for the cleared land include more gardens, pathways and additional access to the park.
We applaud the library and park district in Lombard. Despite past disagreements, both taxing bodies ultimately worked together to reach a deal and enhance the beauty of Lilacia Park.
The colonel and his wife would be proud.