BLUE ISLAND
Emergency repairs to bridge approved
City Council members on Tuesday approved emergency repairs to one of the city’s bridges to make it safer for pedestrians after the state imposed new safety restrictions for two bridges.
Blue Island approved spending $8,000 to repair the walkways on the Chatham Street bridge.
The bridge, which spans the Cal-Sag Channel, was recently closed to pedestrians while the city awaits the results of a load study by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
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The conditions of the Chatham and Division Street bridges came into greater focus after the bridge collapse in Minneapolis this year.
“It’s not good,” Mayor Donald Peloquin said. “The bridges are in terrible shape.”
He said IDOT will require inspections of the bridges every three months to ensure the safety of pedestrians and drivers.
Blue Island has reduced load limits on the bridges as it awaits the results of IDOT’s study. Peloquin said about 500 automobiles drive over the bridges each day.
Pedestrians can cross the Division Street bridge to get to downtown and the Metra train station. Officials could not say when sidewalk repairs to the Chatham Street bridge would be completed.
Officials eventually want to fully refurbish both bridges with the help of an $8 million grant from the federal government. Obtaining those funds could take up to five years, Peloquin said.
Carmen Greco, Jr.
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TINLEY PARK
Firm will design downtown plaza
A Chicago architectural and engineering firm that worked on Millennium Park has been hired to help revamp downtown Tinley Park with a $25 million plaza and underground parking garage.
Teng and Associates, the designers and construction managers of the Grant Park garage and the Lake Shore Drive relocation project, will create a destination point in downtown Tinley Park extending Zabrocki Plaza off Oak Park Avenue east down North Street.
The project will eliminate the 290-space Metra parking lot on the north side of the tracks, which will become the plaza. An underground parking garage will replace those spaces and add new ones.
Board members interviewed four firms. Trustees said they were impressed by Teng’s understanding of the need for creativity and uses of the plaza balanced with safety issues in a parking garage.
“Teng made the best presentation of the group,” said Mayor Edward Zabrocki. “They looked into different things that could happen in the plaza.”
Those ideas included paths; areas for festivals, markets and fairs; a kiosk for police; restrooms; screens for evening movies; and a fine arts area.
The board and staff members will meet with the architect before Christmas to finalize design plans.
Patricia Trebe
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PEOTONE
Landmark windmill will open to public
The Old Mill Fall Fest on Sunday will feature interior views of a 135-year-old German windmill listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Peotone Historical Society will open the H.A. Rathje Mill at 427 W. Corning Ave. to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no charge.
Henry A. Rathje constructed the 60-foot tall structure in 1872 as a windmill, just 16 years after Peotone was established. The mill switched to steam power in 1885 and continued grinding meal for farmers until 1887. Rathje’s descendants donated the mill and grounds to the village in 1982. Will County designated the mill a landmark in 2002.
Visitors can view historical displays exhibited on the second floor of the octagonal mill, said festival chairwoman Helen Rathje Bieronski, Rathje’s granddaughter. Historical Society members hope to restore the mill to its original working order.
Old Mill Fest also will feature an 18th Century medical expert and other pioneer-life interpreters. Handicraft demonstrations will include 1800s boot- and shoemaking, soy candle-making, tatting, bead craft, pottery-wheel throwing and blacksmithing. Demonstrations geared to youths include rope-making, cream separation, butter churning and old-time shelling.
Cornmeal ground at Wood’s Historical Grist Mill in Hobart, Ind., stone-ground products from the Windmill Island Miller in Holland, Mich., and other food from the 1800s will be available.
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Other offerings include herbs, honey and bee wax, painted porcelain, fused glass, calligraphy, upholstery, handmade knives, woodcarving and American Indian flutes.
Musical entertainment will include the hammer dulcimer with violin, guitar and mandolin and the Full Chord Press quartet.
Dennis Sullivan
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OAK FOREST
Policy on removing tree roots clarified
Oak Forest has clarified its policy on removing tree roots that interfere with residential sewer lines.
If a resident has had a problem with tree roots blocking the service line, Public Works employees will use a camera to examine the connection. Public Works will then remove the tree if the resident plans to replace the service line and plant a new one afterward.
But if the resident plans to continue maintaining the line being blocked by a “nuisance” tree, such as a silver maple, willow or cottonwood, the resident must pay to remove the tree. Public Works will then plant a “better species of tree.”
The City Council, which approved the policy Tuesday, spent months discussing the issue, with Mayor JoAnn Kelly wanting to preserve as many trees as possible. Ald. Richard Simon wanted to get rid of all silver maples. He called the trees “evil” because their roots can destroy sewer lines and sidewalks.
“Personally I feel it’s the city’s responsibility [to remove nuisance trees], but I think we’ve got a reasonable compromise,” said Simon, adding that the city required developers to plant trees without designating which ones were safe.
Janice Neumann