No set plans for proposed rec center site in Batavia

What will become of the parcel in downtown Batavia that was proposed for a public recreation center now that Batavia Park District voters rejected the plan?

The developer that proposed the whole idea is not saying.

Evan Oliff, president of Preferred Development Inc., declined to comment Wednesday when asked whether his firm would continue on with its purchase of the strip mall at Wilson Street and Island Avenue; whether it would seek private funding and a private health club for the complex; or abandon the project altogether. Mayor Jeff Schielke said he has not heard from PDI either.

In early October, at a park district-sponsored news conference, Oliff said that if the rec center was rejected, PDI might still buy the strip mall and renovate it.

PDI approached city and parks officials in December 2009 with a proposal to buy the nearly vacant mall, swap some land with the McDonald's restaurant next door, and build a recreation center, stores and a parking garage complex. The park district would have paid for the recreation center, and split the bill for the parking garage with the city. The referendum sought permission to borrow $20 million to do so.

Schielke said the vote was a “sign of the times” politically. He also believes that Batavians are historically skeptical about big projects for the downtown, be it tearing down the old Batavia High School to build a new library, borrowing money to renovate the police department portion of the Batavia Government Center, or building a second bridge.

“As time goes on things get clearer,” he said, noting some former library opponents now tell him they love it.

But “the city council wants to see some action sooner than later” on improving that corner of downtown, he said. The city might part with some tax-increment financing incentives for a project, he said; it was going to do so to pay for the parking garage.

It appears from unofficial election records that not a single precinct voted in favor of the recreation center.

Rec center dead?

Park board President Patrick Callahan said Tuesday night, “To be honest, I haven't given any thought” to what the park district will do next such as finding a way to build a recreation center using other ways of financing that don't require a referendum. It was the second time voters rejected a recreation center; in 2008 they refused a proposal to build one as part of a remodeling of Beach Park and Harold Hall Quarry Beach.

Callahan said not having the recreation center “makes it difficult to satisfy our need for indoor space” for athletics, fitness classes and recreational programming. The district has gymnasiums at its Eastside and Batavia Civic centers, two multipurpose rooms and a conference room at the Civic Center, preschool facilities at Eastside, and meeting rooms at Eastside and the Batavia Boat Club. It also rents space from public schools, and combines for some programming with other local park districts.

“I believe this opportunity has passed, and unless something else miraculously presents itself ...” Callahan said, adding he doesn't know where else a recreation center could be built.

Some residents have suggested building one on the site of the former Siemens factory at McKee Street and Van Nortwick Avenue, but Callahan said city officials don't support a recreation center for that site. It is slated for mixed-use development, should a buyer ever step forward. Schielke said, however, the city council has never taken a vote on whether a recreation center should be prohibited at the site.

Callahan continued Tuesday to say opponents gave out wrong information about the proposal, including their contention that the project would have cost property taxpayers more money. Parks officials said that it would have paid the $20 million plus interest by just continuing to collect the money it currently levies to pay off its debt and extending that another 20 to 25 years. They also said the fitness center part of the rec center would be self-sustaining, through user fees and memberships. Opponents cited other area fitness centers that have been unable to do that, including The Centre in Elgin.

“I don't know what more we could have done” to convince people they weren't going to pay more in taxes, Callahan said. The district hired a communications firm, for $40,000, to put together its campaign materials and public information meetings.