Sun-Standard (Newspaper) - December 4, 1977, Blue Island, Illinois light interest in revitalization See Story Below Vol 101 No 97 Blue Island Published by the Economist Phones News or Ads Circulation 25 Cents Per Copy December 85 Cents Monthly By Carrier V Latin groups at odds By SUZANNE ERFURTH Use of the Calumet Park ation center has one area American group at odds with another group and the management of the Rec center Jose president of the Latin American Advisory council said he believes the recreation board if Calumet Park is trying to keep his group from using the recreation ter and that the Latin Americans For America another American is encouraging the board to do this Nario said LAAC was barred from the center after it held a fund-raising dance Sept 3 which recreation board claim resulted in damage the center's gym floor He said the charged LAAC with putting a large gouge in the floor and ing it unsuitable for roller a activity at the center director of the met Park Recreation said the board has not barred LAAC from the but has temporarily refused to let any group hold a dance at the center until the board can re- devaluate its policy on dances Any dances scheduled to be held at the rec center in the near future were ar- ranged before the board made this O'Neill said really frown on O'Neill said one we hate to throw the kids out the door be- cause we have to prepare for 200 adults who are coming that One step the board is considering to limit dances in the rec center is to more strictly enforce a rule which says that any organization using the center must have at least 50 per cent of its membership living in Calumet Park That's always been a but we may decide to implement it more O'Neill said Nario said he doesn't approve of the rule interpretation is that the center receives funds from the federal government and therefore must be available to all residents of Calumet Nario said He said he believes LAFA told the recreation board that is not composed of the sary number of Calumet Park dents LAFA President Sam Soria denied that anyone in his organization did and said that LAFA itself bly does not have 50 per cent of its members living in Calumet Park Soria said that LAFA has about 50 30 of whom are from Blue Island and 20 from Calumet Park Soria denied that his group has Park officials thank who helped after fire village officials of Calumet Park would like to take this to publicly thank all those too numerous to who assisted us after our recent fire Due to the many offers of help which we we were able to maintain most village services This would not have been had it not been for the goring various and interested citizens Thank you from the entire Village of Calumet Park FRANCIS J Mayor PATRICIA Village Clerk RONALD Trustee VIRGIL Trustee CHARLES W Trustee GEORGE Trustee JOHN Trustee LOUIS W Trustee made any attempt to keep LAAC from using the rec center ltl don't know what the rec policy Soria said know ing about status with the rec board and I'm sure none of our bers know anything about Nario said he doesn't believe statement that the board is not accepting any new applications for dances until it has re-examined its policies just making up ona thing after he said a bunch of garbage Every time we go in to ask for permission to have a dance they bring out another set of b Nario said he feels the rec board is against LAAC because it objects to the personalities of its leaders and because the board views LAAC as a left-wing organization consider us Nario said say we bring in tutes and wetbacks We're not com- We're only individuals trying to live in this community and raise The rec board prefers LAFA tc Nario because is very pro status Soria declined to comment on politics is not cally Soria people seem to think LAAC Nario said he felt the rec board had made the center easily available tc LAFA told us the rec center is for but all kinds of other groups use he said like il belongs to If the center is made unavailable to Nario the organization will suffer we want to have a dance they'll say we were barred from the rec ter It could be very Nario have no other raising Holiday artistry Members of the Blue Island club enjoyed a craft session not too long ago at the Blue Island public library and leaned how to make Christmas Admiring the results are Mrs Leonard Witt and Mrs Martin Bayer Mrs John Wydeveld a member of the instructed the ladies in the art of making Christinas ments from toothpicks and old Christmas cards delayed until spring Work on the Rock Island railroad that was to have had commuters whizzing in and out of Blue Island at 35 miles per hour by Nov IS will not be completed until this a Re- Transportation authority spokesman said Friday he the trains on the east track are moving at speeds up to 25 miles per hour now that the ties and ballast on that tion have been repaired from the mont street station to the Gresham station at street and Vincennes RTA maintenance engineer Herb Clark said the delay occurred be- cause it took three to four weeks for the railroad to negotiate a contract for equipment rental The delay was increased when most of the new ties were carried away in a flood About ties were being stored in cars outside the treating plant in Kansas when a flash flood swept the cars into a he said All but ties were eventually recovered once the waters had subsided The west track is not yet back in Clark but trains should return to it as soon as cold tures force the construction crew to abandon it until spring The only work that remains to be done on the west track is to replace some of the he said This is rather elaborate process that in- volves bulldozing the old ing the crossing and replacing the train as well as replacing the wood or blacktop of the actual The trains will not be able to reach their maximum speed until welded rail has been laid on Clark said While ordinary rails come in joints about 40 feet continuous welded rail is laid in pieces that have no break for a ter of a mile These long segments are laid and then welded together on the spot The Illinois Central commuter trains are able to move faster than the Rock Island because the 1C has a system of signals that permit trains to speed up at the tion without crashing into other Clark said Besides increased the re- pairs will mean a smoother Clark said The work will bring the stretch of tracks from Gresham to Vermont up to the quality of the rest of the com- muter railroad tracks Clark said the stretch from street to street is in good The continuous welded rail would have been laid when the east track was Clark except that there was a problem in getting it welded 103 questionnaires sent out Sixteen businesses to join in revitalization I Sixteen Blue Island businessmen have told the city they'll participate in its project Administrative Assistant Kenneth Sundquist said Thursday Sundquist asked 103 businessmen to today Tips from Chief Schultz Blue Island Fire Chief Robert Schultz has some tips for residents which should make the holiday season happier and safer The he are meant to prevent careless which usually happen more often in the holiday season than at any other time of the year The story is on page seven section one Predicts tough battle Robert L leading candidate the Republican nomination for Congress from the Third says that the Republican candidate who slated to run against incumbent Congressman Martin Russo will have a hard time beating him Full details of this story are on page section one Index Church sect page 1 sect page 4 pagers 18 take part in the in which Cook county will match lar any improvements businessmen in the uptown area make to their storefronts A questionnaire was dis- to eligible businessmen ing them to respond by Dec 1 r Sundquist said he assumes the who haven't responded will not participate Despite the low Sundquist said he was pleased with the response we've The sixteen he will be enough to make a visual im- pact in the uptown area and will ble the city to use if not of the allocated to the project by the Cook County Development Block Grant program In the low turnout may mean the county will be able to foot the en- tire instead of just matching what each businessman can put quist said The county might be ing to pay 100 per cent of rehab costs because want results and they want to see that been Sundquist said The revitalization project has been described as an attempt to bring iness back into Blue Island by ing the main business area more at- tractive The area has suffered be- cause it lacks an overall design and its storefronts clash with each the program's proponents have said and Jack tive vice president of the Blue Island area Chamber of said earlier this year that they would like to see the program result in a uni- business district that capitalized on its architecture Sundquist said Thursday that the responses he's had from businessmen suggest the area probably will not re- flect an overall antique theme it's finished you may see an early American storefront next to a contemporary he said don't think Blue Island will ever see a uni- fied front in the uptown the city's committee will exercise control over what businessmen can do with the grant money Sundquist said he to walk in to someone's ness and tell him what be can do with his but Heuser has said that anyone who applies for grant money to his storefront by covering it with red and black for will be aged Improvements businessmen have proposed run the gamut from pulling up to creating what the owner calls an type with a sandblasted exterior simple sign and leaded glass type small panel windows The average job will cost Sundquist said The city is still awaiting responses from its many absentee who were given until the end of De- cember to respond because the were expected to reach them later Sundquist said he hopes to gel lords and tenants together to on storefront work He has gested that landlords and tenants could work out an agreement to share the cost of improving the storefronts Of the 16 nine are owners or partial owners of their Sundquist said One tenant responded to the naire would be interested in improving the upper half of my problem I don't own U and the guy who does won't do thing for he said News Notes Schedule Christmas concerts Two Christinas concerts are scheduled next week in School Dis- tract 130 On Wednesday Dec the Hale Middle school chestra and band will perform at p.m in the school gym in Crestwood On at p.m there be a concert in Kerr Middle school gym M and Greenwood in Blue land The District 330 Sixth Grade the Ken Middle school chorus and the concert band will perform The same programs will be presented in student assemblies on 8 at Hale and Dec 12 ai Kerr Proclaims Christmas Seal week Mayor Harry Harczak and the Blue Island Council have claimed the week of Dec as Christmas Seal week in the Harczak has urged every citizen to contribute generously to ihc mas Seal campaign being ed by the Chicane Lung tion Set special meeting The School District 130 Board of Education will hold a special ing at p.m on in the board located at 12300 Greenwood Blue Island The meeting is being held to dis- cuss and lake action on building rental personnel matters and reductions in programs and costs The public is invited i
