Why it might really pay to be lucky rather than good

I think I first heard the expression on the golf course.

A guy skulls a short pitch shot. Instead of a highly lofted shot that lands softly on the green, it takes off like a hot shot up the middle -- a screamer destined for the water hazard behind the green.

But wait. The ball miraculously hits the pin head on and stops a few inches from the hole for an easy tap-in.

The hacker says with a sheepish grin, "Well, I'd rather be lucky than good."

This phrase came to mind with the latest developments in the quest to build a new high school on Eola Road in eastern Aurora. I wondered if some of the movers and shakers in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 -- the Naperville-Aurora district that houses Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and apparently before not too terribly long, Metea Valley -- might be thanking their lucky stars these days?

I say that with no disrespect because after a long, long run of incredibly rotten luck, nothing but good news for school officials has transpired in the past few days. Consider the spot o' bother the district appeared to be in exactly one week ago. Our Page 1 headline (Naperville-Aurora edition, mind you) screamed:

"Seller backs out of Metea deal."

If it weren't enough that the district's own citizens were suing it, over alleged concern about the environmental health of the land where the school would be built, the company selling 37 acres of the new school site had just decided all the turmoil and bad blood over the issue was threatening to tarnish the company's image.

That followed another run of lousy luck, really dating back to two years ago, when voters agreed to cough up almost $125 million to build the new school. After a bunch of false starts to acquire the originally intended site, the so-called Brach-Brodie property near 75th Street, the district ended up in court. That battle didn't go well, either. A jury said the 55 acres in condemnation was worth $28.5 million, and, oh, the district owed another $2.5 million in damages. That was about double what the district planned to pay for the land. District asks for a new trial. No go, and the Brach-Brodie trust asks the court to order the district to buy the land, anyway, or pay millions of dollars in fees.

So, the district starts looking for a new site, and the residents' suit aside, appeared to have things in tow with the Eola Road land. Until the disastrous setback of a week ago. Then, almost miraculously, the owners of the majority of the Eola Road site -- St. John AME Church -- say they will sell ALL of their land to the school district and find another home for their new church. Then, in a matter of days, an all-encompassing environmental study was unveiled. It gave the land a clean bill of health, and as we reported on today's front page, the district took title to the land. Excavating starts May 7, only three weeks behind schedule.

Oh, and, by the way, the district paid $18.9 million for the land -- not a great deal more than originally intended.

To be sure, there are still some hazards to be navigated: The Brach-Brodie litigation is still pending, and the quick turnaround on the deal has the residents' attorney sounding especially litigious, charging the district made a $19 million decision "on a weekend's worth of considerations."

As a resident of District 204 and a guy really scraping the nickels together to pay my property bill these days, I would be thrilled if this might be the end of the expense, and, of course, concerns that we're sending our children to school on tainted land.

So, maybe, as these remaining battles play out in court, we'll see if the district's Plan B was well-thought out and executed crisply, like a well-struck pitching wedge landing close to the pin.

If not, here's hoping the district really is more lucky than good.

jdavis@dailyherald.com