LETTER TO THE EDITOR (News-Sun)

August 25, 2007
Lake Zurich

Misinformed, misled

The commentary on the Olympics and Lakewood Forest Preserve needs and deserves honest dialog because of the various risks and rewards. Unfortunately, that does not seem to have occurred. Are we going to hang together or all hang separately?

First, everyone is excited about the possibility of having the Olympics in the region and, in particular, the equestrian venue within Lake County. We certainly want to provide the highest quality facilities and gain the greatest benefit for both the short and long term.

The Olympic Equestrian venue does not belong in Lakewood Forest Preserve. The site is not suitable for the high-quality facility and would cause environmental havoc to even attempt to make it work.

One can only wonder why it was considered. Did anyone do their homework? Had anyone reviewed sites and standards used in previous Olympics?

What about other high-quality facilities? Even a cursory check will show that other venues are more spacious and are more accommodating.

We certainly recognize that the forest preserve board members cannot be aware of all the nuances. They must rely on their staff to find the appropriate experts.

Simply put, the board was misinformed and misled. As a result, we have lost about seven months to plan an appropriate facility because there was no dialog or understanding.

PreserveLakewood.Org and other groups have seen concerns and shortcomings all along. They were dismissed as being cranky naysayers. We now see from the Forest Preserve District's own consultations that it is not a suitable location.

One point that seems overlooked is that equestrian competition is the premier sport in the Olympics, attracting royalty and aristocracy. If we are going to host the premier activities, we need to provide premier facilities.

It certainly is not productive to say, "I told you so." It is time to move on and get serious about making it successful in all of the right ways.

Sheilah Watson

 COMMENT  ON  LETTER  BY  BOB  FRIEND  OF  VOTERS  FOR  PRESERVATION:
 
Here's my personal view on all this:
 
IMHO, our friend Sheilah gives too much "credit" to the LC Board for merely being "misled" into its decision to put the 2016 equestrian facilities in Lakewood.  Not to split hairs here, but I think most of the board members did not really care that much about the effect of a 15,000-seat stadium, etc., on the flora and fauna -- and they still don't.  They wanted -- and want -- this stuff in Lakewood so they can have  CONTROL  over the facilities.  They appear to be interested in these horse Olympics going to someplace like Tempel Farms  ONLY   IF  the property owner deeds the land over to the LCFPD first; they seem  NOT  to want the Olympics at, e.g., Tempel Farms if they can't have  CONTROL  over how the facilities are built and managed.
 
The current Board has a lust for raw power that has gone largely unchecked.  The time to end this is now.
 
        --Bob Friend, Secretary / Communications
           Voters For Preservation