Consultant testifies in lawsuit over friary

A consultant hired by the DuPage Housing Authority testified Wednesday that the old St. Paschal's Friary in Oak Brook would have made a wonderful assisted living retirement community.

Cheryl Kuba, a gerontologist, told 10 jurors in federal court that she was "blown away by the charm of St. Paschal's Friary" when she first visited in 1999 to do a site assessment for the project.

Kuba was testifying on behalf of the DuPage Housing Authority, which is suing the village of Oak Brook for denying it the zoning to undertake the project. The housing authority contends the village is illegally discriminating against seniors and the handicapped. The village maintains it denied zoning because it always intended the site to be a public performance venue and cultural institution open to the public, not private residences.

Kuba was hired by the authority in 1999 to do a feasibility study, and she enthusiastically endorsed the site as capable of supporting assisted living senior apartments.

But defense attorney Howard Levine in cross-examination sought to throw doubt on her authority, emphasizing that she was the cousin of housing authority President John Day and was paid $85 per hour to render an opinion that meshed with her cousin's.

Still, Kuba had previous experience doing one prior feasibility study for a potential site, and she noted that the grounds of the friary were perfectly suited for a retirement community, with room for gardening in a greenhouse, nearby shopping, peaceful grounds and the possibility of a 24-hour nursing staff and doorman.

"For most of the (planned) residents, they probably didn't have a greenhouse on their own. How wonderful would that be?" said Kuba.

But at least during Kuba's testimony, one of the most vocal issues in the friary controversy was barely touched on: money and concern that poorer people would be moving in. At the time the project was proposed, the president of a nearby homeowners association said at a public meeting "somebody with money doesn't want to live with somebody without."

Kuba testified on direct examination by attorney Robert Gauss that the rent at the facility would have been $35,000 to $43,000 a year for a one-bedroom apartment - hardly a lower-end situation.

But Levine questioned if anyone in 1999 had ever talked to her about "supported living," whereby part of the payments would be subsidized by the government. Kuba said that in 1999 supported living was not yet an established practice for retirement homes. However, news stories from 2002 show planners did concede about 20 percent of the units would be subsidized, making the rent as low as $2,000 a month for some tenants.

Opening arguments in the trial were Monday, and the trial is expected to last another week or so. It is being presided over by U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel.