As the trees they fought to save fell in the distance, a small group of protesters took to the streets Monday in front of Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, hoping that public pressure might stop the chopping of 300 trees near the Lyman Woods Forest Preserve.
Waving placards calling for a stop to the “Chainsaw Massacre” and listing the telephone number of the hospital’s chief executive, David McConkey, the half-dozen protesters hoped against hope there was a chance to save some of the trees.
“Once this is gone, there’s nothing left,” said Donna Retzlaff of Westmont, a frequent visitor to the forest preserve. “It’s still salvageable, until they start to grade the land.”
Good Samaritan is leveling the trees on its property to make way for a two-story fitness center, parking lot and retention pond. The hospital’s plans, nearly two years in the making, received final approval last week from the Downers Grove Village Council.
“Things are proceeding along and we’re clearing the area,” said Stephanie Tortorici, a hospital spokeswoman.
Opponents say destruction of the trees, many of them century-old oaks, will lead to a chain-reaction degradation of neighboring Lyman Woods, home to several rare plants and animal species.
Protests have been peaceful, with informational pickets on Highland Avenue and 39th Street for the last three days. Opponents have also called on Gov. Jim Edgar’s office to intervene and halt the project. The governor’s office could not be reached Monday for comment.
Tortorici said the hospital has received several calls from the community complaining about the project, but many people are also pleased that it is moving forward. She said the hospital already made concessions to make the plan more environmentally sensitive, including scaling back the size of the building and parking lot and adding more land as a buffer zone between the hospital property and the woods.
