WOOD RIVER, Ill. – Some Wood River residents are upset with a proposal to sell off some of Belk Park’s land for a private wedding venue business.
A proposal introduced at the Wood River City Zoning meeting by the city manager Thursday to sell 10 acres of the land has Tressa Ellison frustrated.
“There’s a developer that’s interested in building a wedding venue there,” Ellison said. “It would interrupt the park and its use. It just doesn’t seem right – it’s egregious.”
According to a Wood River ordinance signed in 1954 by then-mayor Ivan Kramer, Robert Lee Belk left a piece of land in his will to be used for a public park and recreation grounds.
The ordinance stated that it would be named Belk Memorial Park and that a bronze tablet would be placed at the main entrance to say the park was given to the city for use as a “PUBLIC PARK” by Robert Lee Belk.
“If the venue goes there, I don’t want to go out there walking my dog and be told no because I’m going to ruin somebody’s wedding photos,” Ellison said.
“I would rather not see anything built on here and preserve the park as it is,” said John Muthaney, a resident.
There haven’t been any Requests For Bids at this time.
Ellison said the Zoning Council tabled the proposition, but she feels they could go ahead with the decision without a vote or public consent.
The council meets again on Aug. 7.
“There’s not a lot of green space here; we’re very built up. So that is precious to us,” Ellison said.
FOX 2 reached out to Wood River’s Building and Zoning Department for further comments but has yet to hear back.