The Daily Herald from Chicago, Illinois • Page 145

Page 1 DUPAGE COUNTY MoreJpcahneyys 9 and in Neighbor DailyHerald Wednesday, November 24,1999 Park won't bid Addison ice center BY S.A. MAWHORR Daily Herald Staff Writer Addison park commissioners will not bid on the Blades Ice and Fitness Center when it goes on the auction block Dec. 7., The center, which includes two ice rinks and a square-foot fitness center, is up for sale because of a mortgage foreclosure. Commissioners were considering entering a bid in the auction, although they hadn't determined how much to bid. But they decided not to bid at all this week in a 3-2 vote.

Commissioners Don Ernie Flores and Michael Capizzano voted against going to the auction. Commissioners Roman Strzala and Joe Welkomer voted in favor of putting in a bid. The minimum opening bid is expected to be in the neighborhood of $3.2 million, said park district attorney Pat Bond. But that figure won't be set until a Nov. 29 court hearing before DuPage County Judge Bonnie Wheaton.

It was a lack of financial information combined with continuing protests from residents BY S.A. MAWHOUH Daily Herald Staff Writer Addison park officials this week revived a plan to divert water from a wetland and a detention basin into Lake Centennial, freeing up space to build a hotel. The plan to divert the water will more than double Lake Centennial's 3-acre size. The park backs up to Centennial Plaza, which is on the south side of Lake Street, just west of Lombard Road. Once the lake is enlarged, officials plan to encircle it with a walking path and build a pier for paddle boats.

Under the plan, Centennial developer Dan Murphy will give the park district 2.3 acres, including a dry retention basin which provides water storage for Centennial Plaza. The plan also calls for some water to be diverted into Lake Centennial from the wetland known as Lake Addison, which is southeast of the intersection of Lake Street and Rohlwing Road. Putting all the water in one location will save space and allow room in Centennial Plaza for a 100-room Hampton Inn hotel as well as a fourth free- BY NOREE.N S. AHMED-ULLAH Daily Herald Staff Writer Santa will arrive on a red firetruck, and the mayor will light the city's Christmas tree Sunday, marking the beginning of the holiday season in Wood Dale. The city, the park district, the chamber of commerce and the fire protection district are planning the festivities for Wood Dale's annual tree-lighting ceremony, which will be held Sunday, between 6 and 8 p.m.

Activities for young and old will be held both inside and outside city hall, 404 N. Wood Dale Road. They include Santa's arrival, an ice-sculpting demonstration by Ice Works Co. of Willowbrook and carnage rides. The carriage rides will be similar to those in downtown Chicago, only shorter, said Wood Dale's special events coordinator Vanessa Valentine.

Entertainment will be provided by the Fenton High School jazz band, the Wood Dale Junior High against the purchase that convinced commissioners to vote down an auction bid, said Commissioner Joe Welkomer. About 20 people showed up at a park board meeting this week and told commissioners not to buy the Blades center. It was the same crowd who told commissioners not to buy the facility last winter. At the time, commissioners were considering buying Blades for $5.2 million and then leasing it back to the current owners to run it. Residents argued the price was too high and said they doubted the current owners could do a good job of managing the place for the park district.

Welkomer said he was surprised by opposition to the auction bid because he thought public opinion would change if the park district decided to buy Blades outright and get a lower price than $5.2 million. "I guess we don't have any hockey fans out there," Welkomer said. Strzala and Welkomer said they would consider buying the Blades center if it goes up for sale sometime after the auction. standing restaurant, said Addison's Assistant Village Manager John Berley. The deal died last month when Murphy walked away after park commissioners suggested Murphy give them more land.

But commissioners revived the deal this week with a vote to approve it without any extra incentives. Commissioners Don Jessen, Joe Welkomer and Michael Capizzano voted in favor of the deal, while commissioners Roman Strzala and Ernie Flores were against it. Strzala, the park board president, wanted Murphy to donate Lake Addison to the park district so officials could preserve it as a natural habitat. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided the lake couldn't be drained completely.

"He can't build on it anyway," Strzala said. "It could be a write-off for him." Restructuring the bodies of water and adding the recreational amenities will cost between $500,000 and $600,000, Berley said. The park district will pay about $250,000 of that, and the village will foot the rest of the bill. 'S Madrigal Singers and the Vagabond Singers troupe. There will be a scratch art workshop for kids in the city hall's community room, and chamber officials will hand out goody bags full of small toys and candy.

And of course, there will be plenty of cookies and refreshments. But the main attraction will be close to the end of the evening when Mayor Ken Johnson officially lights the Christmas tree outside ciiy hall. City officials are asking children who live in town to help decorate both the outside Christmas tree and another one inside the city hall rotunda with ornaments they've made. Children can drop off their ornaments at city hall during business hours. The city spends about $1,000 on the free tree-lighting event.

It's meant to promote community togetherness and a better relationship between the city and its residents, Valentine said. CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS Steve Jones is a professor and head of the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His college affiliation was incorrect in some Tuesday editions. 9 To correct an item in Bev Moretti's column in some Tuesday editions, Wood Dale's tree-lighting fes- tivities are planned between 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday.

mmm In some editions of Friday's real estate section, a story about Bridgewater Farm incorrectly said that the community is served by the Buffalo Grove Park District when it is not. cream company on Business wants license back after 2 kids hurt in dry-ice incident BY ANGELITA MORAGA Daily Herald Staff Writer Mauricio Alvarez and Saul Huerta wanted free popsicles from the neighborhood ice cream man. So the West Chicago 8-year-olds agreed to play a game suggested by the popsicle vendor. They'd get free treats, the vendor told them, if they could hold a plastic bag of dry ice from his cart for 20 seconds. Saul agreed, but held out for only half the required time before crying for the man to remove the bag.

When the bag was removed, Saul's right hand was blistered and burned across the palm. Mauricio ripped the bag from his forearm. He also had a burn, about two inches long. The July incident, which resulted in battery charges being filed against ice-cream vendor Jose Mora of Aurora, was recounted Monday at a West Chicago city council meeting. Martin and Guadalupe Pantoja, who own the Aurora-based ice- cream operation and employed Mdra, have asked the council to reinstate their business license, which was revoked by Mayor Steven LaMcs shortly after the incident.

"I didn't want any other children to be involved in something like this," LaMcs said. The couple also hold licenses in Piano, Aurora, and Mendota. The Pantojas, speaking through an interpreter Monday, said they remind their workers daily to be careful with the ice product that is stored in the cart in between the ice cream. "We know about the dangers," Martin Pantoja said. "And that the children ask for it and want to play with it.

We always tell (employees) to be careful, especially with the children." Joel Fina, a Wheaton attorney representing the city, questioned the owners and suggested they were negligent because they didn't do background checks on their employ-. ees. "Did you do a background check on Mr. Mora?" Fina asked. "No," Martin Pantoja said.

"It was impossible for me to do something like that. I don't have a computer." "You do have a telephone don't you?" Fina said. The Pantojas' attorney, Rene Cruz, said his clients should not bear all the responsibility for Mora's actions because they could not have "foreseen in their wildest dreams" that this could happened. Cruz said the city could have handed down a lighter sentence such as a suspension or fines. "(The Pantojas) bear some responsibility because they are the owners," Cruz said.

"There are penalties for this, but (the city) automatically went to the most severe one." The city will review the testimony given at the meeting and make a decision at a future council LaMcs said. Mora is facing 10 felony counts of battery against him in DuPage County Circuit Court, attorneys said. He has not shown up in court and has not been seen or heard from since the incident, they said. Continued from Page 1 Kerri-Ann Bauer said. "We have a wonderful park, and it's a war to get there.

You don't know if you're going to make it." But Brandywine resident Tim Voss said officials need to consider the safety of the children in his neighborhood. "Why are the children in York Township considered more important than the children in Brandywine?" Voss said. Even the village of Villa Park objected to the road dosing. Villa Park's attorney David Freeman said the village fears dosing the road will have a negative impact on police and fire departments' response times. In addition, village officials are worried about increased traffic flow in some parts of Villa Park.

Schroeder said Brandywine residents can appeal his decision to the county. "This wasn't a fun decision," he said. "This is the part of my job that I hate," he said. AUTHORIZED REPRESEN TA VE SAVE OFF AH Accessories with this Ad Hey Dancer, The Communications Store has Great Holiday Stocking Staffers. 369-10 Army Trail Road BloomingdaJe, II 60108 Take Rt 53 to the Army Trail Exit, West to our Showroom.

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