Late in February, three men met for lunch at a country club.
One was Earl Swanson, a sculptor, former York Township Highway Commissioner and lifetime resident of DuPage County who has made wealthy and influential friends throughout his 68 years. He was looking for support in pursuit of a dream: creating a first-class sculpture and botanic garden in DuPage.
County Board President Gayle Franzen already was helping Swanson, and the two wanted the third man, recently elected Forest Preserve District President Dewey Pierotti, to join in the effort.
“To be honest with you,” Pierotti recalled, “I thought it was a no-brainer. I mean, how could you lose by supporting the arts? It’s like motherhood and apple pie.”
Pierotti didn’t realize, he said, that the group he was joining proposed to build the garden on public land and was carefully reserving the option of levying a tax to do it.
Still, he signed on as co-chairman of the association’s honorary committee, joining a dizzying list of heavy-hitting supporters from politics and business who have given this project perhaps unprecedented momentum.
Among the power brokers and millionaires on the list are Illinois Senate President James “Pate” Philip; Michael J. Birck, president anf chief executive of Tellabs Inc.; Dean L. Buntrock, chairman and chief executive of WMX Technologies Inc.; and W.H. Clark, chairman and chief executive of Nalco Chemical Co.
The high-powered support appears to be wielding some influence. Last week, Pierotti and other DuPage County Forest Preserve commissioners gave conceptual approval to the garden, which its architect estimates could cost $5.5 million to build.
That endorsement, however tentative, lays the foundation for allowing the district to levy property taxes for the garden. It comes at a time when other tax-supported programs are under scrutiny from Forest Preserve commissioners looking for cuts to eliminate a potential $2.5 million deficit in next year’s budget.
“From my perspective, it’s one of those things where I sometimes wonder if the commission isn’t collectively insane,” said commissioner Roger Kotecki, a Glen Ellyn Republican who, with Wheaton Republican Patricia Carr, voted against the garden.
Kotecki and other critics noted that the Forest Preserve District already is committed to an arts project, the Peabody Mansion on the 90-acre Mayslake estate in Oak Brook. And for that project, a non-profit group that does not enjoy the sculpture garden’s influential support is having a hard time raising $500,000 in repair funds.
In 1992, the district grudgingly bought the Peabody property for $17 million. If the Mayslake Conservancy can’t raise the restoration funding, the district will be forced to spend several million dollars to rehabilitate the landmark or tear it down.
A countywide referendum urging the Mayslake purchase pushed the district to buy the mansion property. But the sculpture garden has not been a grass-roots cause.
“There are not a large number of people demanding this,” said Carr.
The garden’s supporters “should look to the private sector, and, if there is a need, they will find funding there,” Carr said.
Both Carr and Pierotti noted that Swanson has been seeking Forest Preserve property and staff as well as taxpayer funding to bring the garden to life.
In fact, the Danada Sculpture & Botanical Gardens Association-named for the preserve the group sees as the perfect garden site-added the word “botanical” to its title and massaged its mission statement so it would become eligible to levy a tax under the state’s Forest Preserve Botanic Gardens Act.
The 1963 law, enacted just before the establishment of the Chicago Botanic Garden near Glencoe, allows forest preserve districts in counties with populations of between 100,000 and 3 million to levy a tax of slightly less than a half-cent per $100 of assessed value to operate a botanic garden. In DuPage County, that formula would raise $800,000 a year.
A memo written March 10, 1995, by a staff member at Senate Majority Leader Philip’s office and sent to Swanson confirmed his premise that the DuPage County Forest Preserve District does have the ability to tax for a botanic garden. However, the tax would have to be approved in a referendum.
Swanson’s connections by no means end with Philip. An affable man who owned restaurants and has worked as an industrial and commercial real estate broker for 35 years, Swanson developed a close friendship with former DuPage County Board President Jack Knuepfer, who serves on the association’s honorary committee.
Knuepfer, 74, of Elmhurst, still wields considerable clout in DuPage and the state capital.
Swanson plays down that relationship. He says that his high-powered group consists mainly of people who were attracted to the venture when they attended the association’s summer shows at Danada Forest Preserve and Cantigny Park in Wheaton.
“It’s nothing personal,” Swanson said. “It’s just that these are leaders in our county, and they see that this is something that would be good for our people.”
And, contrary to the perception that sculpture gardens appeal only to an elite, affluent crowd, Swanson contended that everyone would enjoy the garden. It also could be an educational resource, he said.
“I think this gives people a chance to go out for an afternoon and unwind and come out fresh,” he said.
Despite the garden’s auspicious start, Swanson still has plenty of work to do before his dream becomes reality. The association’s consultant, Environmental Planning and Design, of Philadelphia, which served in a similar capacity for the Chicago Botanic Garden, is reviewing potential sites on Forest Preserve District property and preparing a more specific financial plan, Swanson said.
He declined to discuss financial support but stated that it was firm. In 1963, $1 million was raised from private donors to found the Chicago Botanic Garden.
That botanic garden, which sits on 300 acres of Cook County Forest Preserve property, now has an annual budget of $11.5 million, a spokesman said, of which $8 million comes from property taxes.
Forest Preserve commissioners are expected to make a final decision on the sculpture garden by December or January.
While Pierotti said he still supports the sculpture garden concept, that support does not extend to providing public funds or land. He believes other commissioners share his view.
“Believe me,” he said, “if the sculpture garden starts talking about levying taxes, you’re going to see people leaving on the stagecoach, because no one’s going to stick their neck out and support new taxes.”
