CHICAGO — For four years, Lockport, Illinois, residents Ray and Shelly Romolt have stared out their window at an empty lot, waiting for the day developers would transform it into a home for new neighbors.
They’ve been eager to watch construction commence, and have long pictured the moment a moving truck would deliver fresh faces to join them for bocce, book clubs or “driveway drinking” – three activities commonly practiced in their southwest suburban over-55 neighborhood.
Normally, the couple would’ve been giddy after seeing a sold sign on the lot last month, and even more excited when mesh construction fencing began to go up two weeks ago. But now, after spotting four speckled eggs resting on the ground, they’re working to delay the process in an effort to keep a family of killdeer birds safe…