Evergreen Park gives approval for order’s retirement center
BY BOB RAKOW Correspondent February 6, 2012 10:48PM
John George, an attorney for the Sisters of Mercy, returns to his seat after addressing the Evergreen Park Board of Trustees Monday night. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 8, 2012 8:10AM
The Evergreen Park Village Board on Tuesday night approved a legal settlement with the Sisters of Mercy that will allow the religious order to build a retirement center near 99th Street and Central Park Avenue.
Trustees unanimously approved the agreement, which settles a 3 1/2-year dispute between the order of nuns and the village over use of the property.
Under the agreement, the retirement center will be about half the size as first proposed and limited to men and women who belong to religious orders. Previous proposals opened the center to lay people as well.
In October 2008, the Sisters of Mercy proposed a center with 212 rooms; a five-story, independent-living building; and a four-story, assisted-living building.
That plan was unacceptable to village trustees and resulted in the village suing the order for not using the land as Evergreen Park intended. The village gave the land to the Sisters of Mercy nearly 60 years ago on the condition it be used only for “religious educational purposes.”
The original plan was revised to 146 rooms, a four-story building for assisted living and a three-story, independent-living building, but that also failed to get village board approval.
The plan was further downsized recently to 110 units, with both buildings being three stories.
“The (complex) has been reduced in size, dimension, height and setbacks,” said John George, attorney for the Sisters of Mercy.
The 146,267-square-foot center includes 44 independent-living and assisted-living apartments, 12 assisted-living memory care rooms and 10 nursing care rooms. The number of parking spaces has been reduced from 108 to 82, and the setbacks along 99th Street and the north property line would be increased by several feet.
The board’s approval comes two months after trustees voted to continue litigation against the Sisters of Mercy to prevent construction of the larger retirement center.
“We’re pleased that this will allow us to care for our sisters,” said Sister Judith Frikker, president of the West Midwest Community of the Sisters of Mercy.
Construction plans have not been finalized because the proposal was recently modified, Frikker said.
Fewer opponents of the plan turned out Monday night than at previous village board meetings. Those who did attend voiced concerns that the Sisters of Mercy might eventually propose enlarging the center.
“In the end, this can be expanded,” Evergreen Park resident Cathy Manahan said.
Any expansion would require village approval, Mayor James Sexton said, adding that “there isn’t this sinister plan to double (the size) next week.”
Kathy Rohan, president of the Evergreen Park School District 124 Board, said the district has concerns about the center’s proximity to Southwest School and the site not being used for a school.
“It’s the use of the building that’s the main concern. Once this is built, there is no going back,” Rohan said.
Frikker said the retirement center will include an educational component.
“There will be an interaction with the girls from Mother McAuley (High School),” she said. “Education is more than what you get from a textbook.”
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