Wheaton parks will pay for Hubble

The Wheaton Park District is ready to open its checkbook to prevent losing “vital” athletic spaces at the former Hubble Middle School in downtown.

Park district officials Wednesday night announced they will try to purchase part or all of the land from Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200. Park commissioners authorized Executive Director Mike Benard and board President Ray Morrill to communicate an offer to pay “fair market value” for the 22-acre parcel at the highly visible corner of Naperville and Roosevelt roads.

“The site is currently serving an important community need,” Morrill said in a statement. “Our goal is to make sure that continues.”

District 200 hasn't used the 250,000-square-foot building since August 2009 when the new Hubble Middle School opened in Warrenville. But thanks to two intergovernmental agreements, the Wheaton Park District has been using the outdoor ball fields and about 50,000 square feet of indoor space, including the three gymnasiums.

“The community enjoyed tens of thousands of indoor and outdoor hours of competitive and recreational sports at the school's site in 2010,” Morrill wrote in a letter to District 200 school board President Andy Johnson. “These facilities are important to sustain the park district's current level of programs and services for the entire community.”

The proposed sale would benefit the park district, District 200 and their constituents, Morrill added.

After hearing about the proposal Wednesday night, Johnson reacted by saying, “We would certainly entertain any offer that is reasonable.”

District 200 officials say developers are expressing “significant interest” in the property. The district is in the process of getting an updated appraisal.

According to the most recent appraisal of the old Hubble site in 2007, the land has an estimated value of $21.7 million. That figure is significantly higher than the estimates the district received for the site in 2001 and 2002. One earlier appraisal valued the land at $4.8 million. The other appraised it near $10 million.

On Wednesday, park officials didn't specify how much they are willing to pay or how much they think the land is worth.

If District 200 doesn't want to sell now, Morrill indicated that the park district is requesting a “first right of refusal” option to buy a portion or all of the property “at the same value as a bona fide offer from a third party.”

If the school board decides to sell the land to a developer, either a public auction or a sealed-bid auction would need to be held. An auction wouldn't be required if District 200 were to sell to the park district.

Either way, District 200 could use proceeds from any sale to pay down its highest-interest debt. In the meantime, the district is spending an estimated $300,000 annually to keep the building in minimal operational shape.

While the school board is willing to consider the park district's offer, Johnson said he personally wants to see the property redeveloped and put on the tax rolls.

Mayor Michael Gresk agrees that he would like to see a developer build a mixture of uses on the property.

“I would like to think that perhaps a commercial development would be in the better interests of the city,” Gresk said Wednesday. “But we will acquiesce to whatever the owner wants to do with the property.”

Councilman John Prendiville, who is challenging Gresk for mayor, has long been saying that he believes the highest and best use of the old Hubble property would be for it to become a park district facility.

“Even if we wanted to have a commercial use there, something like that could not happen for a long, long time,” said Prendiville, adding that he questions whether any developer — in the current economy — can meet the district's eventual asking price.

Then there's the fact that the bowl-like nature of the property leaves about 13 acres in a floodplain. The cost of preparing the site for construction also would be significant. District officials have said preliminary estimates show it could cost $2 million to $3 million to abate the asbestos in the building and then raze it.

“In financial terms, it (the property) is worth less than nothing to the school district,” Prendiville said. “In terms of the community, it's worth a tremendous amount.”