North Cook News

Opponents of the building of an access road on the Canal Shores Golf Course are now looking to the Cook County Board of Commissioners and the courts after yesterday’s 5-4 vote by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) to approve an easement for the building of the road.

The Dick Keefe Development Corporation plans to build upscale homes adjacent to the course, homes that would be landlocked without the road.

Keefe has a strong ally in Senate President John Cullerton, who not only has an ownership interest in the builder (according to records with the Secretary of State), but is also serving as Keefe’s attorney and has lobbied members of the MWRD.

Canal Shores

Andrew Paine, attorney for the Wilmette Park District, told North Cook News that the district is “incredibly disappointed” with the MWRD vote.

“The Park District’s Board of Park Commissioners is committed to doing everything in its power to protect its leasehold interest in the Canal Shores property and to preserve this valuable community resource,” Paine wrote in an email. “In light of Thursday’s vote, the Park Board is currently evaluating its legal options. All legal remedies remain on the table, up to and including filing suit against MWRD and Cook County.”

The MWRD owns the golf course property and has leased it to Wilmette and Evanston—the course winds through parts of both—going back decades.

Opponents organized under Don’t Pave 10 have been fighting  Keefe for years, and they are now calling on Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle to kill the deal. The county has to approve the financing of the 60' by 426' road, whose costs have been estimated between $500,000 and $1 million.

“Keefe has known for many years that his property was effectively landlocked,” Canal Shores board member Karl Leinberger said in a statement. “Why should Cook County taxpayers pay for a road that solely benefits the developer’s family trust and is strongly opposed by the local community?”

The road would eliminate the 10th hole on the 100-year-old municipal course and could jeopardize the course’s standing for sponsoring tournaments and charity events, opponents say.

“No one is going to want to hold an event at a 17-hole golf course,” said Barry Cronin, a public relations expert working with Don’t Pave 10, which also includes area golfers and nature enthusiasts.

Cronin also said that the plan is a slap in the face to thousands of golfers who play on municipal courses in the Chicago area.

“What this says to them that a private developer with a lot of political clout can just seize land like this,” Cronin said.

MWRD board members Frank Avila, Josina Morita, Debra Shore, and Mariyana Spyropolous voted against the easement.

Members Kenneth Dunkin, Martin Durkan, Kari Steele, David Walsh and Barbara McGowan voted in favor.

Canal Shores says that the course hosts more than 12,000 golf rounds per year. Its junior golf program attracts 500 youngsters annually who learn how to play golf as well as the etiquette of the game. Local golf teams—including Evanston Township H.S., Niles West H.S., Loyola University, Northwestern University, and others—use the course for practice.