01-07-2009, 12:46 PM
Park Ridge officials say they aren't sure why street signs honoring the general manager of the Chicago Cubs appeared in Uptown last month and claim they weren't informed of the plan.
The brown, rectangular signs, reading "Honorary Jim Hendry Way," were attached to two traffic signal poles at the intersection of Prospect Avenue, Touhy Avenue and Northwest Highway by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), said Park Ridge's Director of Public Works Wayne Zingsheim.
Zingsheim said an IDOT representative said crews were ordered to install the signs based on an "executive order from the governor's office." Zingsheim said the city was never informed of this order and only learned about it after making calls to IDOT this week.
"They just appeared out of nowhere," Zingsheim said of the signs.
Mayor Howard Frimark said he was not told about the signs and was unaware of any ceremony to unveil them. Aldermen also seemed to be at a loss to explain the signs. At Monday night's City Council meeting, when resident Judy Barclay asked why they had been posted, 4th Ward Alderman Jim Allegretti replied, "The answer is, we just don't know."
Hendry, who has served as the Cubs' general manager since 2002, is a Park Ridge resident.
Ironically, the signs were posted just prior to the City Council's vote Monday to prohibit honorary street designation in the city. Zingsheim said the traffic signal poles that the Hendry signs were placed on belong to IDOT, so the city has little say in the matter.
The brown, rectangular signs, reading "Honorary Jim Hendry Way," were attached to two traffic signal poles at the intersection of Prospect Avenue, Touhy Avenue and Northwest Highway by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), said Park Ridge's Director of Public Works Wayne Zingsheim.
Zingsheim said an IDOT representative said crews were ordered to install the signs based on an "executive order from the governor's office." Zingsheim said the city was never informed of this order and only learned about it after making calls to IDOT this week.
"They just appeared out of nowhere," Zingsheim said of the signs.
Mayor Howard Frimark said he was not told about the signs and was unaware of any ceremony to unveil them. Aldermen also seemed to be at a loss to explain the signs. At Monday night's City Council meeting, when resident Judy Barclay asked why they had been posted, 4th Ward Alderman Jim Allegretti replied, "The answer is, we just don't know."
Hendry, who has served as the Cubs' general manager since 2002, is a Park Ridge resident.
Ironically, the signs were posted just prior to the City Council's vote Monday to prohibit honorary street designation in the city. Zingsheim said the traffic signal poles that the Hendry signs were placed on belong to IDOT, so the city has little say in the matter.