Thank You!

    • The Park District voted June 3 to NOT put soccer fields at Ackerman
      Woods. The vote was 4-1 with Taylor, Schoen, Dallman and Minogue for, Jourdan voting against and Aubrey and Hess absent. The Park District listened to the community on this issue and we are very pleased with their decision, which is a big step forwards towards permanent protection of the woods and making them more accessible to our community.
    • The Village voted unanimously on June 9 to reject all bids for the project. Thank you Village trustees! The Village will reconsider the stormwater project and look at alternate locations.

    What is Next?

    • We need permanent protection for Ackerman Woods, so the woods will remain for everyone to enjoy, without future threats of development.
    • We will be working with the Park District to organize an Ackerman Woods clean-up this fall, after the growing season is over.
    • The Park District's vote still allows the village to excavate a stormwater detention facility in Ackerman Woods and the Village is still considering this option. We will monitor the Village closely and report back on any new threats to the woods, if they occur.

    The Issues

    The Village of Glen Ellyn and the Glen Ellyn Park District planned to use a heavily wooded area in Ackerman Park to build two soccer fields and a water detention pond. Construction was scheduled to begin in late June. There are numerous reasons why our community spoke out against this plan.

    Irreplaceable Loss of Woods

    Ackerman Woods consists of native trees up to 100 years old, and over 340 will be cut down. Claims that the trees are undesirable are untrue. These trees take up thousands of gallons of water during storms, produce clean air, and provide food and shelter to native birds and animals. Additionally, many residents of Glen Ellyn moved here because of the 'village in a forest' atmosphere. The Park District plans to replace trees up to 40" in diameter with 35 saplings a year over the next 10 years. Loss of these woods will harm our environment and reduce property values.

    Questionable Development Plans

    The Village wants to provide water detention for businesses on the north side of 5-Corners (at St. Charles and Main Street in Glen Ellyn) to make it less expensive to build new stores. Lack of retail space is not a problem in Glen Ellyn. Stores have been sitting empty here since they were built, and Glen Ellyn's downtown continues to loose businesses. Do we need more strip malls and discount liquor stores, especially at the expense of our downtown businesses? And how can we guarantee that the loss of our woods today will ever be justified by dreams of development tomorrow?

    Unnecessary, Unplayable Soccer Fields

    The Park District claims that it needs more soccer fields, but when presented with evidence from soccer board minutes and decreasing enrollment numbers, President Bill Taylor admitted "we just want them." Now they say they will rent the fields out. But the Park District is unable to provide usage studies to show need or feasibility of this plan. Additionally, experts in athletic fields have reviewed the field plans and determined that they would be unplayable due to their design and location in a flood plain.

    Poor Land Stewardship

    In 2005 and again in 2008 the Glen Ellyn Park District illegally dumped and filled in wetlands at Ackerman Park without permits. Ackerman is yards away from the DuPage River. The Village, who is entrusted by DuPage County to enforce wetlands violations, failed to act on the county violation notices.

    The Park District is a steward entrusted by the residents who own the land. It is the Park District's responsibility to preserve the environment in our community; instead they have a history of disregard for wetlands and now intend to destroy our forests too. The Village could choose to hold up permits until the violations are resolved, but they may use a loophole and issue the permits to themselves.

    Flood Risk

    The stormwater facility requires that stormwater from 5-Corners flow across the yards of private residences. The increase in stormwater will cause additional flooding in an area already troubled by floods. The Village Engineer recommended in 2001 that the stormwater facility be located adjacent to 5-Corners due to "severe drainage problems" in this area. The Village disregarded the 2001 Comprehensive Plan and never considered the recommended location. Homeowners should not bear the burden of this plan for cheaper development of strip malls.

    Fiscal Responsibility

    The Village and Park District have called this project "free to taxpayers," based on expected revenue from sale of the Walgreens' detention pond property. However their budget doesn't include all the costs. New documents show the Park District plans to spend $97,500 on minimal tree replacement and landscaping at Ackerman Woods. We had a landscape architect prepare a conservative estimate for replacement by the caliper inch that shows the true cost will be over $400,000.

    In today's real estate market, how likely is it that we will even get the appraised value for this land? Construction costs come out of the Village's capital projects budget now, so it is a gamble that we will make back the construction costs. When the true costs are all accounted for, this is not even close to free for taxpayers. This project is fiscally irresponsible.

    Lack of Openness and Public Input

    Despite mentions of this project at meetings back to 2003, it was never made public that Ackerman Woods would be destroyed as part of the plan. Citizen advocates who attended these meetings, and even some village trustees who approved the plan, were unaware of this fact. We only know about the plan because a resident (Melissa Creech) noticed survey flags in the woods and called the Park District with questions. This lack of openness about the nature of the project is unacceptable.

    No public hearing was held by the Village on this project. The Park District has said the matter is not up for debate. Despite overwhelming opposition to this plan, the Glen Ellyn Village and Park District are disregarding public input and moving forward with the project. It is unacceptable that our elected officials ignore the community's will on how our public land is used.

    What You Can Do

    E-mail your elected officials and thank them for their actions to save Ackerman Woods. Now, we need permanent protection for the woods and we need the Village to permanently abandon its plans for water detention in the woods. Just a few short sentences will make a big difference!

    CAtwell@gepark.org, jsesto@gepark.org, dolson@dupageco.org, geckhoff@dupageco.org, jmcbride@dupageco.org, webmail@glenellyn.org, andread@glenellyn.org, sandrapihos@gmail.com, mformento@dupageforest.com, forest@dupageforest.com, rschillerstrom@dupageco.org

    And while you are at it, copy the press on your e-mails as well.

    news@dailyherald.com, news@tribune.com, fencepost@dailyherald.com, metro@suntimes.com, editorial@mysuburbanlife.com, thesun@scn1.com

    About this Site

    All of the documents listed on this site were obtained by us from the Village of Glen Ellyn, the Glen Ellyn Park District and DuPage County through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). We've listed both the requests for information and the responses, along with all of the documents provided.

    If you know of any newspaper articles or letters to the editor that aren't listed here, please let us know and we will link to them.

    Save Ackerman Woods is a grass-roots effort of concerned citizens with no formal organization. We are always looking for more volunteers and suggestions! Please contact us at saveackermanwoods@gmail.com.