The late 50th Ward alderman Bernard “Berny” Stone was a colorful character. Elected in 1973 under Mayor Richard J. Daley, he presided over the far-north-side West Ridge community for nearly four decades. Throughout his career Stone was famous for his feistiness.
Earlier this month, Silverstein showed good sportsmanship when she joined Emanuel and members of Stone’s family to cut the ribbon on Bernard Stone Park, a memorial to her former foe. Located by the west bank of the North Shore Channel, just south of Devon Avenue, the 1.8-acre green space replaces what was the weed-strewn parking lot of a defunct movie theater.
According to CDOT deputy commissioner Luann Hamilton, who worked on the project back then, Stone claimed his opposition was based on feedback from neighbors east of Kedzie, which parallels the east bank. He said residents were worried about people parking on their streets and using the bridge to access the Lincoln Village Shopping Center, west of the channel. But Hamilton says the alderman provided no documentation to support this claim.
“That infuriates me,” responds Stone’s daughter Ilana Stone Feketitsch, who served as the alderman’s chief of staff during the last 18 years of his career, in response to Sadowsky’s statements. “Never did he ever dismiss anyone of any race, color, and creed. He was a great man who lived his life for his community, including people of every race and religion.” Asked about her father’s involvement in the racially charged anti-Washington resistance, she responds, “He got caught up with what was going on and what he believed in.”
In January 2013, the Illinois Department of Transportation allocated $979,600 for the bridge, but it took a few more years until additional federal and local money could be lined up for the $3.4 million project budget.
