There has been a great deal of confusion among the residents of Park Ridge regarding who owns, or paid for what, at the Park Ridge Senior Center. Elected officials and some blog commenter’s; and others who claim to know, have muddied the water with their unsubstantiated claims and opinions. Feeling somewhat confused myself, I decided to look into this issue a bit further, and to date, this is what I’ve found.
The following two part discussion will cover the building and those items residing within.
Part One - Park Ridge Senior Center Building
Believe it or not, after all this time, many Park Ridge residents I’ve talked to, still have no idea where the Park Ridge Senior Center is located. The “Park Ridge Senior Center” building is located at: 100 South Western.
A View from the front!
A satellite view of Park Ridge Senior Center and Centennial Pool - Google Earth 03/12/2012.
As you can see, the swimming pool and its associated building are attached and adjacent to the Senior Center.
For the purpose of clarity, I’ve cropped the non-essential items from this picture.
And eliminated surroundings.
The first PRPD/SSI Senior Center Lease agreement was implemented in 1980. That year, the Seniors spent thousands of volunteer hours cleaning and modifying the storage facility, turning it into a clean and inhabitable senior program space. Over the next three decades, thousands of additional volunteer hours would change the rodent infested building into the facility you see today!
1980
Under the leadership of SSI’s first President, Raymond Hollis, Senior Center membership grew and with that, the need for additional storage space.
1983
Additional storage space was added! SSI paid 100% of the construction cost!
Over the next seven years, membership and activities continued to expand, requiring yet another expansion, including a much needed kitchen renovation. Recognizing the value to the Park Ridge Senior Community, PRPD, led by Board of Commissioner President, Mary Herster-Tone, generously contributed half of the monies needed for the project. This collaborative effort dramatically improved the look of the building and effectively doubled the programming space.
1990
1999-2000 saw the renovation of the library, the building of the stage and installation of a state-of-the-art sound system. This 100% Senior Center Member paid project would not have been possible without the generous bequest from the late Eddie Fleck.
1999-2000
Historically, one of the unusual features of the Park Ridge Senior Center has been its independent status; unlike other Park Ridge Park District resident organizations. Independence, supported by a binding contract, gave the organization stability. Members knew, their Center was indeed theirs and the operation of their Center was not subject to outside interference or capricious political whim. As a result, some Members with strong emotional ties with the Center acted generously.
And of course, there’s Betty Kemnitz’s $330,000 bequest; the subject of a recently filed lawsuit.
Note: From the beginning, members of the “Senior Center” along with their associated 501-c3, Senior Services, Inc. (SSI), have been aware of their need to acquire additional funding by dues, fundraising, grants and bequests for the purpose of improving opportunities for seniors in Park Ridge.
Since contracts termination and PRPD takeover of senior center operations, dues and activity costs have increased, volunteerism has decreased, fund raising has diminished, grants have vanished (prior to contract termination) and, from my counting so far, over $1,000,000 in future bequests have been withdrawn.
The fight for dollars now revolves around WHO is the Park Ridge Senior Center?
The court will decide!
Part Two – Other Items Residing Within, Purchased by Seniors For Their Use At The Center.
Over the years, Senior Services, Inc.(SSI), purchased additional equipment for use by Senior Center members within the Park Ridge Senior Center building. Since early January, following Grodsky’s “retirement”, I’d been hearing rumors that PRPD management and SSI were having some sort of problem determining who owned what equipment residing within the walls of the “Park Ridge Senior Center” building.
Curiosity, again getting the better of me, I submitted FOIA-120207-001. There, I asked for a list of “disputed assets” valued at less than $5,000. Without boring you with the full email-string, let me cut to the chase.
FOIA Officer, Ms. Lucarz wrote the following.
| “…. for purposes of responding to your request, absent contrary information provided by you, it will simply be assumed that the following items, legal title to which is presumed by the Park District to be held by ‘SSI’ are items you are referring to:
Baby Grand Piano
Ceramic Kiln
Two (2) Pool Tables and Accessories
Two (2) Big Screen TV Sets
All Lobby Furniture
All Tables (7 card tables, 12 banquet tables) and Chairs (50) in the ‘Drop-In’ Area of the Center
Game (2) Tables
Four (4) Ping Pong Tables
All Equipment in the Kitchen other than the Major Appliances
Projector and Laptop Computer used for Computer Club
Two (2) Digital Pianos
Banquet Tables
Library Furniture, Books and Shelving, and TV in Library
Sound System, Microphones, and Music Stands
All Folding Chairs used for Events (approximately 180).” |
I hope these facts help you better understand this aspect of the PRPD/SSI Senior Center story.
