The Peoria Park District Board of Trustees has approved a plan to enter into “expanded discussions” with the Detweiller Playground Trust and O’Brien Steel over a portion of marina land being sold to the company for potential expansion.
The board unanimously approved a measure during Wednesday’s board meeting that would allow for the park district to expand discussions beyond the rerouting of the Rock Island Greenway trail property that runs through the land, located along the Peoria riverfront and gifted to the people of the city by Thomas Detweiller in 1947.
The Detweiller trust, saying they were losing money by maintaining the marina, entered into an agreement with O’Brien Steel to sell the property to them for potential expansion last April. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office approved the plan in November. The state approval was needed due to how the Detweiller trust was set up.
The discussions would allow for a revision of the sale boundaries to protect as much land as possible along the riverfront. In addition, the measure would allow the park district to begin discussions with the city about keeping Caroline Street open for public access, as it would be closed in the proposed expansion by O’Brien.
In addition, the measure also asks for staff to provide information on how the park district can best protect public access to the land, which includes the possibility of asking Detweiller to gift the remaining property to the park district; discussing with the Peoria Boat Club, which has property on the land, their responsibilities as leaseholders and ensuring that they protect the public access; and collaborating with North Valley neighborhood groups on how to best secure the future of the land.
Emily Cahill, executive director of the Peoria Park District, said that the measure would go in conjunction with ongoing talks between Detweiller, O’Brien and the park district regarding right-of-way for the Rock Island trail, which would shift downward toward the riverfront in O’Brien’s plan for the property.
O’Brien plans to use about 10 acres of the land for storage of products such as steel beams, with the rest remaining with the Detweiller trust. A group of community advocates and North Valley residents also said that Detweiller had plans to provide the Peoria Boat Club with about seven acres of the land in the original plans instead of gifting it to a group like the park district.
Many of those advocates spoke out during Wednesday’s meeting to talk about the impact that the riverfront land has on them as residents in the area. North Valley resident Pat Palmer spoke about how she and other residents in the area use the land for a variety of different activities, such as canoeing, kayaking and kite flying.
“You know, a lot of the people in the neighborhood use it, too,” Palmer said. “Not just me and my family, it was other people, too. Young people have moved into the area because of the access to the river, because they want to have an area where they can put their kayak (or) canoe in.
“It’s not only important for the neighborhood, for the green space, the river and the trees, but there are so many other uses that people in our neighborhood and the city of Peoria have used this space and we really need to have that access remain open to all of us.”
Fellow resident Julie Dodge said that people may have lost sight of the land’s historical significance, which dates back to the era of Henry Detweiller, the riverboat captain and Civil War veteran who took up roots in the area.
“For me, I’m a photographer and access is so important to me,” Dodge said. “Access by vehicle that I can drive into the park and access for the beautiful trails there. One of the things that isn’t mentioned from Mr. O’Brien is the trees. All of the trees are going to be removed. The piece of land that is going to be left for the people is nothing more than a piece of lawn with no trees, 100% in the flood zone.
“This is a connection point. This park is a connection point for people who meet and get together to recreate in the park. It connects people from all areas of Peoria and it is the place where people come to see the Illinois River.”
Another resident, Joyce Blumenshine, made the board aware of concerns that groups like the Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club had about the lack of transparency and what she said are inaccuracies that may have been provided to the attorney general’s office when the sale was approved last year.
“It is the opinion of our volunteers that there are deficiencies in the information presented to the court, including the true importance of the area and the years of what we see as failures of the trust to maintain the property under its legal care,” Blumenshine said. “The trust’s filing to the court makes no mention of the historic significance of the land or the three historic markers on the property intended for sale.
“Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club asks the Peoria Park District to obtain a pause in all plans for the sale of any playground trust property out of concerns for the rerouting of your legal right of way and the fact that you were not timely notified of the trust’s plans.”
‘We would just like a seat at the table’
Some members of the board became emotional about how to best protect the land, including Joyce Harant, a trustee who had worked with Friends of Riverfront Park to block a condominium development over a decade ago in the area and felt that she had found an appreciation for the impact that the Detweiller family had on that area.
“In my view, the park district is deeply connected to the Detweiller playground land and has a responsibility based on our mission and core beliefs to step outside of our comfort zone to see if we can be a steward for the benefit of our community members’ access and to preserve as much of this land that has value historically and has been a natural resource,” Harant said.
Another board member, Alex Sierra, thanked the residents for their quick work in ensuring that the park district advocated for the land.
“It hasn’t been favorable for everyone, but everyone, at least on this side, is remaining open to exploring our options and figure out how we can echo what that trust is responsible to adhering to, which is being good stewards of public access and assets,” Sierra said.
Park board president Robert Johnson also praised the residents, crediting their work as being an example of “true democracy.”
“When people of the community come together and speak out on an issue that is very important to them, this is the American way,” Johnson said.
Karrie Alms, one of the leaders of the group of residents, said after the meeting that they were happy that the park district was willing to put some of their suggestions into action, also saying that they would be keeping in touch with them as the process continues.
“It would be nice if the Detweiller Playground (Trust) would reach out and meet with us as groups, too,” Alms said. “Since the park district acted as an intermediary and they declined to meet, that would be good if they would be willing to meet with us. You can see that we’re not screaming, yelling people. We’re very calm and rational and we would just like a seat at the table.”
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Park District to expand discussions on riverfront land sale
Reporting by Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
