Neighbors oppose soccer field to be built on public land with private funds
When Peter Zelchenko thinks of soccer practice, he recalls scrimmaging on a mud field and enduring shin splints as a fullback on the Latin School's soccer team in the late 1970s. The 45-year-old writer and former alderman candidate says he knows what it's like to be a city student and need a new facility.

And yet like some area residents and athletes, Zelchenko opposes the plan for a synthetic soccer field that would be built on Park District land and funded by the Latin School, whose students in return would exclusively use the field at certain hours.

"We're seeing increasing amounts of public land and public property handed off to private interests, and one of the greatest scarcities we have is land in the city," says Zelchenko, who is starting a campaign (www.thepoint.com/campaigns/latin-soccer) to unite Latin School faculty, students and alumni who want to see the plan revised.

Many residents first heard about the plans from articles this past spring and summer in Crain's and the Chicago Reader. According to the articles, the Park District board voted last fall to lease property to the Latin School in order to build a synthetic soccer field just west of the Lincoln Park Zoo parking exit. The school would spend between $900,000 and $1.3 million while the Park District would pay $200,000 for lighting.

Latin School spokesperson Melissa Jarmel could not confirm construction costs but says the school is committed to "returning any unused time available to the general public."

She says the partnership is part of the Park District's capital improvement plan to bring new facilities to neighborhoods, and that the school has reduced its original usage hours by 10 percent based on community feedback. The Latin School would use the field from 3 to 7 p.m. during the weekday in the fall and spring, she says, and from 9 a.m. to noon during the week in the summer.

According to Park District spokesperson Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, construction for the field will begin in late October or early November once the Latin School settles on a contractor. She says the field will cost at least $1 million, which will be funded by the Latin School. The Park District will spend $200,000 to install lighting.

"We have 570 parks and very limited resources," Maxey-Faulkner says. "Nearly everything we do here has to be done with some level of partnership because there's not enough money out there to give folks all their wants and needs."

She points to similar partnerships with North Park University and the University of Chicago. Regarding public input, she says, "We went about this in the same way we go about every project," adding that the project was presented to an advisory counsel and at some neighborhood meetings.

However, some neighborhood groups continue to question conditions of the deal.

"We want to make sure people get back to a framework about what is best for institutions," says John Paul Jones, director of neighborhood parks and community relations for Friends of the Parks, a not-for-profit dedicated to protecting Chicago's parks and lakefront. "The current plan written by the Park District provided far too much user time to the Latin School and given most of the capital and ongoing maintenance needs of new space, it still doesn't give much benefit to residents." Jones says members of the group plan to attend local meetings in hopes of compromising with the Latin School.

For some members of the Chicago Area Runners Association, the situation recalls a similar 2003 debate regarding proposed plans to build a running track just north of the North Avenue Bridge.

Lawton Warzala, an avid runner and CARA member, supported plans for a track northwest of the North Avenue Bridge that would be partially funded by the Latin School. But at those meetings, some Lincoln Park residents who wanted to see the area remain open space voiced concerns.

"I thought it was going forward, there were maybe two meetings [about the topic], and then we didn't really hear anything after that," Warzala says.

Maxey-Faulkner couldn't recall plans for a track field and says there are no current plans to add a track.

Though he lives in the Dunning neighborhood, Warzala runs nearly 40 miles a week around the Loop and along the Lakefront. Still, he says finding an all-weather track can be difficult.

"When training for a long distance, like a marathon or 10K, you have to get distance running in, but you also need some intervals," he says. "And a track is a good place to do it. It's kind of an enclosed area and not just an open area."

"I think I'm fine with the soccer field," he adds. "There seems to be an understanding that if the Latin School is paying for it, they should get some access or maybe negotiate. I'd like to see a track there too. It seems like something the Park District should provide some funding for, or maybe somebody should solicit funds, whether CARA, Nike or private individuals, to get a track in that area as well, for both items."

Sheila Burt is a freelance writer based in Chicago. Reach her at smburt@gmail.com.