CONTROVERSY IN PALOS HEIGHTS On May 16, 2000, the Palos Heights City Council met to determine who would gain possession of the Reformed Church of Palos Heights. Seven months of meetings and controversy over the sale of the Reformed Church of Palos Heights had left church officials again unsure of who would buy the property and when. The Reformed Church, 6600 W. 127th St., had been for sale for approximately two years, as the growing congregation planned to build a larger church on Bell Road in Lemont Township. Church officials found themselves back where they were during the previous spring, when the Al Salam Mosque Foundation of Chicago announced that it would buy the Reformed Church for $2.1 million. The contract sparked a major controversy, with some Palos Heights residents opposing a mosque and some city officials trying to get the city to buy the church for use as a recreation center. The sale of the church to the Al Salam Mosque Foundation would mean a loss for the Recreation Department who had used the buildings and parking lot for some time. It would also produce a great increase in population and traffic in the area surrounding the church. The city wished to purchase the property, which had been on the market and vacant for an extended period of time. Aldermen of Palos Heights approved offering the mosque foundation $200,000 to drop its plan to buy the church. Mosque officials agreed, however, Mayor Dean Koldenhoven vetoed the city council's offer. The mosque foundation last month backed out of its contract and filed a $6.2 million civil rights lawsuit against the city. The political coalition which was the major player in in favor of the city purchasing the Reformed Church of Palos Heights was the recreation committee headed by Alderman Julie Corsi. Alderman Corsi expressed strong agreement toward the City of Palos Heights purchasing the Reformed Church of Palos Heights. In the Palos Heights Summer 2000 newslette...
