To the editor:

In the movie “Argo,” six hostages must be quickly extracted from Iran and there are no good ways to do it.

The situation is urgent and lives are at stake. When the main character presents his idea, he says, “All of the ideas are bad, but this is the best bad idea we have.”

It seems to me that the proposal submitted by Centrum Properties for Crestwood Court is similar to the proposal submitted in the movie “Argo.”

Is it a bad idea? I think it is. A central component of the proposal is a “bowling concept.” Why would someone propose that a central component of this brand-new facility should be a type of entertainment that already exists immediately across the street at the Crestwood Bowl? I suspect that the Centrum representatives intend an establishment similar to the Pin-Up Bowl in the Loop, which targets the bar-hopping crowd that goes to the Loop for weekend entertainment.

But Crestwood is not the Loop. If I want to bowl in Crestwood, I would go to a place like the Crestwood Bowl, and not a bowling “concept” like the Pin-up Bowl.

The strength of Crestwood is in its families, not its bars. Lind-bergh Schools was just selected as the best school district in the state for the third consecutive year. Families that value education will be coming to Crestwood. Any idea for Crestwood Court should target the people of Crestwood and not those people who are looking to the Loop for entertainment.

So the leaders from “Argo” and Crestwood are both dealing with bad ideas, but there is a crucial difference between the two situations. Our situation is not nearly so urgent. Certainly, no lives are at stake here. I hope that the leaders of Crestwood won’t be persuaded to believe that the situation is more urgent than it really is.

I would ask the leaders of Crestwood to be patient and wait for a truly good idea. Please don’t accept the current proposal just because it’s the best bad idea we have.

Reese Watt

Crestwood