September 22, 2005
Commentary from SaveEdens.com (9/22)
Here
at SaveEdens.com, our slogan has been "Working to keep Edens Athletic
Club open and Wendy's-free." In light of TCA's
letter dated September 6, it doesn't seem like the first part is going
to happen, unfortunately.
I actually chuckled at some of the things mentioned in that notification,
not that Mr. Schwartz cares. His subtle jab at the whole Save Edens campaign
was particularly enjoyable: A neighbor launched a "save Edens" campaign,
which has had the unfortunate effect of accelerating the loss of members;
the opposite of their intent. I would tend to disagree with that
statement. I believe the first public notification of the club being sold/redeveloped
happened on June 29, with the article in the Press entitled Athletic
club reported sold for restaurant. The SaveEdens.com domain name wasn't
registered until July 5, with banners promoting the website and the "Save
the Edens Club" campaign showing up shortly after that. 
I'd argue that the club announcing that they were selling out would probably be the more accurate reason for "accelerating the loss of members." Anybody could pretty much conclude that. (Well, maybe not someone who couldn't figure out how to make the club profitable in 5 or 10 years, depending on which source you trust).
Of course, the departure of members would also have nothing to do with the fact that since the announcement back in June, general club maintenance and upkeep went to the wayside. After all, why bother to maintain the place even though contracts were in place with club members to provide these services? What's a dirty shower, broken equipment, or even poorly connected television units got to do with member retention anyway? Gee, I don't know why people wouldn't want to stay around for that! Yep, must be that darn website and those folks who wanted to keep the club around. Yup, that's the real reason everyone left!
Give me a break.
It
boils down to the fact that seemingly Mr. Schwartz wanted to "take his
ball and go home." A deal couldn't be worked out with Joe Gill and his
team to sell the club. That's all we really know. Why that couldn't be
resolved no one is open to say. God forbid that the community actually
get a little riled up at the idea of dumping a Wendy's into their backyards.
I really can't understand why there would be any offense at that. Have
you ever lived next to a fast food joint, Mr. Schwartz? Probably not,
I would assume. You might want to consider working in one, however, and
spend a little time learning about customer satisfaction. 
Moving on, the second part of our slogan here at SaveEdens.com is still valid at this point. That whole "Wendy's-free" thing. And last time I checked, that Zoning Board meeting wasn't until Friday, October 21 at 2:00 p.m. I grew up in the Forest Glen neighborhood nearby and the last thing we need around there is more traffic being generated off Cicero Ave. or the stench of greasy burgers. I can see it now: "Eat fatty hamburgers, now on land leased from a heath club conglomerate!" I doubt that will be showing up as a TCA press release any time soon. (Not that you'd be able to read it on TCA's corporate or Edens websites anyway, which seem to have been designed by a 4-year old when it comes to navigation and organization of information.)
So while the club may be going away, and folks have found other places
to workout, we still have this little Wendy's issue to consider. So keep
up the pressure on the alderman folks. Keep those petitions circulating.
And let's see what happens!
Posted by Tannerman at 11:22 AM | Comments (0) | Trackback