A Burr Ridge Athletic Facility? No, Officials Say

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge officials on Monday rejected the idea of an athletic facility as part of the development of a 110-acre property.

They were responding to the Plan Commission's blueprint for CNH Industrial's site at 6900 Veterans Boulevard. The CNH plant, which closed a few years ago, is for sale.

CNH, a United Kingdom-based company, has itself come out against the plan, which the commission approved 4-3.

The plan calls for including commercial buildings, an athletic facility, houses and multifamily units.

In a letter last week, the company pushed for a light industrial business park, arguing that the village's proposed plan "greatly diminishes" the land's value.

Further, the firm said that if CNH keeps the property, the village's proposal would conflict with the land's historical uses.

"We find completely unacceptable the prospect of potentially being denied the ability to build a new office, establish equipment providing grounds, or operate a test farm on any portion of the land," CNH's vice president, Jason Omerza, said in the letter.

During the meeting, a CNH representative said the company was open to mixed-use development, including residential.

"Intellectually lazy"

At Monday's Village Board meeting, the athletic facility got a poor reception.

Mike Stratis, a plan commissioner who voted against the proposal, said the facility is impractical and unrealistic financially. He said the plan fails to achieve a fair balance between the rights of CNH and the community at large.

"I felt like putting that (facility) there with five health clubs within three miles was intellectually lazy," Stratis said.

The idea's supporters say that such a facility would be a regional draw for indoor sports, bringing out-of-towners to local restaurants and stores.

A consultant has advised the village that the shortfall for such a facility would be $40 million, officials said. It was unclear who would own it.

"That would be conjecture at this point," Village Administrator Evan Walter said.

"Not going to fly"

Village trustees expressed opposition to the athletic facility, with Joe Snyder saying a $40 million deficit is "not going to fly."

Trustee Russell Smith described himself as deeply concerned with CNH's opposition to the plan.

"Folks, they are the owner of the property. Is the village going to come to me as an owner and have me make changes to my property without my blessing?" Smith said. "We need to listen to this owner, and we need to establish a better relationship with this owner."

Now, he said, the property is an eyesore and doing nothing to benefit the village.

CNH is now working with the rebranded Bridge Industrial, now called Kurv Industrial, to develop the property with five commercial buildings. The developer would give 40 acres to the village.

A previous proposal from Bridge Industrial for the property included commercial complexes. But officials said the proposal called for too much density. Bridge pulled the plan.

A sticking point has been truck traffic. Now, officials said traffic has fallen to zero with CNH's closing.

"There will be some additional traffic," Trustee Guy Franzese said. "How we manage it is up to this board."

"Butterfly fields"

At previous public meetings, the village has asked residents to put up Post-It notes for their ideas about the property.

"The majority of those Post-It notes were the naysayers," Trustee Smith said. "The ones who want butterfly fields and lots of trickling water and ponds and no traffic."

He suggested opening the process to more people with different ideas.

The board voted unanimously to send the issue to the ad hoc comprehensive committee. Mayor Gary Grasso and Trustee Anita Mital were absent.

CNH and its predecessor, International Harvester, have long been tied to Burr Ridge. The village's original name was Harvester, and a park is named after the company.

Harvester got its start in Burr Ridge more than a century ago. Since 1959, the local site has been used for heavy machinery and diesel engine development and testing, according to CNH.