Residents opposed to the Latin School's plan to build a soccer field on Chicago Park District property pledged legal action last night to stop construction.

Participants in the meeting, hosted by the Committee to Keep Lincoln Park Public, blasted the school and parks officials for failing to involve the public in decisions on the project.

"It doesn't sit well that Lincoln Park is involved in a land grab," says Gold Coast resident Nick Curran. "It is a total lack of diplomacy to use public land for private purposes."

Patricia Yeray, member of CKLPP and emcee of last night's meeting, says the group hopes to "shame the Chicago Park District and Latin into doing the right thing."

The group claims the Park District broke state open-meeting laws and its own construction guidelines to approve the field. Construction on the site, located on public land within Lincoln Park, has already begun.

Representatives for the school and the Park District did not attend the meeting.

Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said her agency followed the same process it uses on all capital improvement projects.

The project was discussed at the district board's public meetings, and officials also gave presentations to neighborhood groups.

Melissa Jarmel, spokeswoman for the Latin School, says a community meeting was held in August, and the school made changes to the project based on the results of that meeting. She added that Latin's use of the field is very similar to their current use of Park District fields.

The opposition group has enlisted the support of attorney Herb Caplan. When he heard that the project was under way he said, "I felt impotent as a citizen. Why are these things happening?"

Under Caplan's leadership, the group filed a Freedom of Information Act request for due diligence documents such as environmental reports or architectural studies.

The district's response contained "a remarkable admission," Caplan says.

The district acknowledged  that no such documents exist. Caplan says.

"This means the entire plan was conceived and built without the due diligence required in Chicago Park District code," says Caplan.

Members of the committee say they hope to file a lawsuit that will force the Park District to stop construction and seek additional public input on the project.

The crowd erupted in applause at Caplan's summary statement. "The park doesn't belong to Latin School," said Caplan. "We are not powerless. Together as a group we have power and we will exercise that power."