Illinois man protests highway rest stop closure, claims he was conceived in building

Kevin Walters of Crystal Lake,Ill. chained himself to the doors of the Des Plaines Oasis on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway to protest it's closure. He claims the rest stop has special meaning to him because it is where he was conceived over 20 years ago by his parents after they attended a Phil Collins concert. (Google Street View)

A 21-year-old Illinois man went against all odds to protest the permanent closure of a highway rest stop because he claims that he was conceived there after his parents got frisky on the way home from a Phil Collins concert.

Kevin Walters of Crystal Lake, in an attempt to have everyone take a look at him now, staged a one-man protest of the closing of the Des Plaines Oasis on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway according to CBS Chicago. He chained himself to the door of the rest stop.

“It is a weird story, I must admit,” he said to WBBM Newsradio. “About 21 years ago, my parents were at a Phil Collins concert here in Chicago, and one thing led to another. They ended up at the oasis…and I was conceived there.”

He was then asked how he came to know about his conception saying that it, “just sort of came out” during a conversation with his parents.

“They were like, ’Oh yeah, hey, we never really told you how you were born, or your conception,’ and my parents are weird people, so it’s not that surprising,” he said.

The oasis, as it’s known by locals, opened in 1959 and is set up much like a strip mall, housing a customer service center, a 7-Eleven, and numerous fast food joints like McDonalds and Panda Express.

It also contains a Starbucks, Best Buy Kiosk, a newsstand and a Mobil gas station.

But the mega reststop will shutter its doors for good on Sunday as it’s knocked down under a plan to widen the tollway. Only the gas stations will remain, leaving more than just Walters upset.

“You can stop and eat lunch midday if you have to, or you can come after your sales calls during the day,” Jim Day, a traveling salesman who stops at the Oasis four or five times a week said to the news station. “You can stop in and check emails, and return phone calls, and return emails. It’s very convenient.”