At South Park Cellular towers are like garbage dumps and car washes - everyone wants them around to serve their needs, but not in their own back yards. So it was with a proposed cell tower in Park Ridge.
Sprint wants to put one in the South Park area.
The City of Park Ridge and the Recreation and Park District debated, in a friendly but pointed way for the last several months, whether the tower should be among the trees in South Park itself, or on the South Park fire station property at Cumberland and Devon. The park board, in an unusual 3-3 tie vote, decided last week to reject Sprint's request to locate the tower in the park, as the city had preferred. The tower is the latest telecommunications facility to be proposed for Park Ridge, and more will probably come in the future. The park board's action upheld the wishes of resident Richard Barton, who wrote the board that the tower would be unsafe and ugly in the park. The firehouse has minimal foot traffic on its property and is not a play area for children.