Old Hubble site to be sold at auction
The former site of Hubble Middle School in Wheaton will be sold in a sealed-bid auction, Wheaton Warrenville District 200 officials said Wednesday at a board meeting.
The decision went directly against pleas made at the meeting by several residents and Wheaton Park District Board President Ray Morrill, all of whom wanted the schools to sell the 22-acre parcel to the park district for fair market value.
The details must still be finalized and board members are expected to approve a resolution that opens the auction at a special meeting next Wednesday. School officials say the auction does not preclude the park district from participating.
In fact, some board members said they hope the land ends up in the hands of the park district. But even if it does not, board member John Bomher said the park district could still negotiate with the buyer for 13 acres that prohibit any building because of its location on a flood plain.
“I think at some point there may be a discussion between a developer, the park district and the city,” he said. “But I’m sitting here as a board member with an obligation to the taxpayers of District 200. We need to try to get the best financial return for District 200.”
The park district uses the ball fields and about 20 percent of the 250,000-square-foot Hubble Middle School building for some of its programming. In recent weeks, officials made an aggressive push to buy the property, offering fair market value and committing to selling a portion of the land to a private developer.
If the park district does not buy the property or work with a future developer, officials have said they would have to cut some programs.
The parcel sits at the highly visible northwest corner of Roosevelt and Naperville roads. In plans released by the park district Tuesday, a 4½-acre section of the property is carved out for future development. Additionally, a garden area would serve as a gateway into the downtown district.
But school officials have remained consistent that their main hope has been to see the property placed on the tax rolls and start producing revenue for the schools.
The park district’s Morrill said any public comment received was nothing more than show.
“I got the feeling they had their mind made up even before they walked in the door,” he said after the meeting. “I think it’s unfortunate they seem to be in a hurry to move forward after the property has sat idle for two years.”
Board Vice President Rosemary Swanson commended Morrill and the residents who came forward to make their pleas, but said the prospect of having the property on the tax rolls and the potential increase in equalized assessed value during the next several decades, resulting in even more revenue for the schools, was too good to pass up.
“The park district is a jewel and what the park district does is wonderful,” she said. “But at this point in time, we cannot afford, as a district, to not have that property back on the tax rolls.”
Before the decision was reached, Morrill and six residents spoke out on behalf of the park district. The residents included longtime Wheaton natives and coaches who have used the fields at Hubble for years.
The message revolved around the programming and whether placing the site on the tax rolls resulted in much of a financial impact on residents’ property taxes.
The leader of a youth cheer squad said losing Hubble will adversely affect her program.
“No school in the district can accommodate our numbers, our practice times or our cheer mats,” said Karla Coolidge, who noted that the program has more than 240 girls. “It needs the old Hubble to run a safe and competitive program.”
Morrill said he would talk with the rest of the board to determine if the park district will pursue the property at the auction.