A town in recovery

As the storm clouds hang over the Village Board in their attacks on one another, residents seem to be banding together more than ever to bring healing and unity to a town battered by political division and neglect for nearly a decade. In fact, take the Board’s discord out of the picture and one sees a picture of a town in recovery, for the most part.

For example, the Courier-News published a report last Friday of a group of about 10 local pastors of Carpentersville churches who have been meeting regularly to reach out to the community through their congregations to hear their concerns and attempt to find direction and solutions for the Village.

Village staff is doing a good job of coordinating efforts to repair and maintain the roadways and infrastructure, as well as bring additional retail and commercial development to the town. Although a few businesses that have left Carpentersville have been relatively high profile (Circuit City, Jewel, Big Lots, and Fridays), there are not as many empty store fronts as some would have folks believe. With the exception of the old Big Lots space, Meadowdale Mall is basically full. The old Jewel store is being significantly overhauled to open in November/December as “the Village Fresh Market”. White Castle is slated to open soon next to Aldi on the near-West side, across from food stops like Jamba Juice and Panda Express. And, there are some rumors flying around that some of the restaurant spaces around Spring Hill Mall might not be empty for long.

Even the schools in the area appear to be improving. Despite continued overcrowding issues (although the total number of students is below the bottom floor estimates provided by the District during the last referendum) that have plagued District 300 for years (on the West, as well as the East), according to recent reports test scores among third through eighth graders improved to exceed the state average. Carpentersville Middle School, after several years of failing to meet standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind act, has recently received a passing grade.

It will take time to get to a higher level of satisfaction … but progress is being made, in a time when the economy is otherwise stumbling, slowing growth and development.

Now, if we can just stage an intervention as a community to help some of our Trustees get some therapy so they can actually aid in the recovery…