More than 1,100 Elmhurst residents signed a petition asking for a vote on the Wilder Park bandshell site. The Park District told them it doesn't count.

Executive Director Jim Rogers rejected the 1,183-signature petition in a July 30 letter to organizers Andrea Hutchinson and Claire Cronin, calling it "invalid as a matter of law," Patch reported. Rogers said state law prohibits citizen-initiated petitions from placing advisory questions before park district voters.

Chicago-based election attorney John Fogarty disagrees. In a statement reported Aug. 5, Fogarty said state law authorizes public questions for voters of any unit of local government, including park districts.

"Tellingly, (state law) contains no restriction on the ability of citizens to petition any particular type of political subdivision, such as a park district," Fogarty said in the statement.

Fogarty also noted the Park Board itself has the authority to place a public question on the ballot, even if the citizen petition is blocked.

The petition sought a non-binding advisory referendum on the November ballot about the bandshell's location. The Park Board voted 4-3 in January to build the bandshell on the east lawn of Wilder Mansion, a site the district's own fall 2025 survey showed residents overwhelmingly opposed. Residents cited concerns about sightlines to the mansion, sound, traffic and parking.

The bandshell is part of a $90 million bond referendum Elmhurst voters approved in November 2024. Of that total, $85 million was earmarked for a new Wagner Community Center. Soil sampling for the bandshell project has already been completed, with eight borings taken, according to the Park District's project page.

The Elmhurst Park Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, at the district's administrative office, 375 W. First St. If a larger-than-usual crowd is expected, the meeting may move to Wilder Mansion. A meeting agenda was expected to be released Thursday, Aug. 6, but had not been posted as of that morning.

Rogers did not return a request for comment from Patch. Residents who want to address the board can attend the Aug. 10 meeting in person, though it remains unclear whether the petition dispute will appear as a formal agenda item.