Variety is a mirage with fast food oases monopolies

If the company that runs your oases is in foreclosure proceedings, does that affect how they operate?

Always up for a road trip, I decided to investigate that question.

The important news is the washrooms are working just fine and there is fast food aplenty. But on another level, Webster's Dictionary defines the word oasis as "a fertile place in a desert" and "any place offering relief from ... dullness."

A tour of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's seven oases showed a definite lack of the above. Instead, I found mangy landscaping, a significant number of boarded-up restaurants and a fast-food monoculture.

My voyage came as a result of rest-stop operator, Wilton Partners, facing foreclosure proceedings.

The tollway and Wilton Partners, a major donor to ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, signed a deal in 2002 to rebuild and run the agency's seven oases. Other political connections include the fact Subway Development Corp. and Panda Restaurant Group, which has ties to convicted Blagojevich fundraiser Tony Rezko, also made sizable donations to the ex-governor's campaign fund. Both landed leases at the new revamped oases with 50 percent discounts in rent for the first year.

Fast forward to today and Wilton is in a foreclosure fight with its lender iStar Financial Inc. Although Wilton claims it is the injured party, the tollway is out about $1.3 million and iStar is seeking to have another company manage the oases.

The tollway maintains that its rest stops are functioning just fine and vacancies are a reflection of the economy. That's where my thoroughly unscientific study comes in.

• The Lincoln Oasis. A plaque with fading lettering commemorates the 2006 reopening of the Lincoln Oasis in South Holland and the partnership between tollway leaders and Wilton. Inside are what looks like four empty retail spaces and two shuttered restaurants including a Famiglia Pizzeria. (Famiglia raised eyebrows when it become an oases vendor because one of the owners, Edward DeBartolo Jr., is a felon.) Open for business are a Subway, McDonald's, Travel Mart, Auntie Anne's pretzel shop, Starbucks and a Panda Express. Outside are a Mobil and On the Run variety store.

• The Hinsdale Oasis. Maybe it's the ubiquitous gumball machines or the boarded-up restaurants but this oasis doesn't feel like tony Hinsdale. And I'm starting to notice a pattern. Open: McDonald's, Subway, Panda Express, Auntie Anne's, Travel Mart, Starbucks and a Kronos Gyros. Outside - Mobil and On the Run. Two restaurants including a Famiglia are closed down and there are several vacant retail spaces.

• The O'Hare Oasis. As I get out of the car, I also realize that this is the third oasis I've seen with really sad landscaping as in dead bushes and patches of dirt instead of grass and weeds. Outside: Mobil/On the Run. Inside: Panda, Travel Mart, McDonald's, Auntie Anne's, Starbucks, Subway, Kronos. There are vacant retail spaces and six shuttered shops including a Famiglia.

•The Lake Forest Oasis. OK, in a town like Lake Forest I expect to find a little class and I am not disappointed because this oasis boasts a KFC/Taco Bell. Outside, a Mobil and On the Run. Inside: McDonald's, Panda, Subway, Starbucks, Auntie Anne's, Kronos, and Travel Mart. There are three vacant spaces and five shuttered businesses (Famiglia).

• The Belvidere Oasis. There's a fine crop of weeds outside along with a Mobil and On the Run. Inside: the usual suspects. Five eateries/shops are closed and there appears to be three vacant retail spaces.

• The DeKalb Oasis. This facility is the greenest of the oases, with views of cornfields. Inside, it's more like a ghost town. Eateries include Panda, Subway, Starbucks, McDonald's and a Travel Mart. There's a closed yogurt shop and a corridor of vacant retail space that seems to go on forever. And of course, a Mobil and On the Run.

The Des Plaines Oasis: The last rest stop on my Odyssey boasts a Taco Bell/KFC, Subway, Panda, Starbucks, Aunt Annie's, McDonald's and Travel Mart. There are three closed shops and several vacant retail spaces.

For the record, washrooms (at least the women's) were relatively clean.

A few thoughts.

In early July, we drove to Maine. Two days each way, a gazillion miles and one dog barking nonstop. Rest stops provided the only sanity and what I appreciated about the ones we visited was they had a variety of fast food restaurants and gas stations. Down with monotony and vive la difference, I say.

Since lots of tourists are using these rest stops, why can't we contract with local restaurateurs to offer a product that says Illinois, not Generic-ville.

I like the glass pavilions on the redesigned oases. But when they're cluttered with kiosks, it's hard to get that sweeping view of the traffic going in both directions, which I thought was the main point of the design.

Tollway spokesman Joelle McGinnis said Wilton is responsible for attracting and retaining vendors and noted that Baskin-Robbins is one new client that will be opening shops at oases soon. "That's good news. Especially at a time when businesses are closing, it's good to know there's a reliable national chain that will be at the oases," she said.

McGinnis also noted that it was Wilton's responsibility to maintain the exterior and interior of the oases.

Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat who is organizing hearings on the Wilton issue in September along with Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, said the quality of the oases will be discussed. "The larger issue," she said, "is how we got to where we are today."

Schoenberg, an Evanston Democrat noted, "the vacancy rate at the oases has been an enormous problem from the very start."