Could Hubble sale cut into Wheaton park programs?
The decision to sell the former Hubble Middle School site at open auction will mean cuts in programming at Wheaton Park District, park officials said Thursday.
President Ray Morrill said the park board has not discussed whether it will continue to try to acquire the site. But unless it was to win the sealed-bid auction outright, park officials say they won’t have enough space to maintain all their programs.
“There will be cuts if and when we lose access,” he said. “How much, I do not know. But we will have to go back to the school district and say, ‘OK, where can we make up some of this lost time?’ I don’t think they’ll cut us off at the knees and say, ‘Too bad,’ because our kids are their kids.”
Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials opted Wednesday to sell the 22-acre site on the open market, a move that upset park officials. They had hoped to buy the land from the school district and continue to use 13 acres of green space and one-fifth of the 250,000-square-foot building.
“I’m disappointed and frustrated and felt we should be given consideration as a courtesy because we have had a long, great relationship,” Morrill said. “Our relationship is exceptional and it’s something I’ve always taken pride in. The community has benefited from the relationship. But this decision, in my opinion, lacks some respect for that relationship.”
Morrill stressed, however, that the two sides will maintain an amicable working relationship.
In the weeks leading up to the decision, the park district had become more aggressive in its efforts to buy the site. Officials sent a letter to the District 200 asking for a right of first refusal on the property and met in person with leaders of the district and the city. They also committed to carving out a portion of the site for private development while paying fair market value for the land.
“I was saddened and wished they would have continued to discuss all of their options and given us the opportunity to match a good-faith offer,” board member Phil Luetkehans said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, school board President Andy Johnson said granting the park district a right of first refusal would impede the sale. He said developers would hesitate if they knew the park district could come in and bid $1 more to get the property.
On Thursday, Johnson disagreed with some park officials who said the school district never took their offers seriously.
“Simply not the case,” Johnson said. “Our position was and has always been that we would sell the property; this has been consistent three-plus years and no offer to purchase the property has ever been made by the Wheaton Park District.”
Johnson said he hopes the park district participates in the auction.
The school board will hold a special meeting on Feb. 16 to officially start the auction process and is expected to establish a minimum bid. That minimum bid will be based on an appraisal Johnson said will be ready by then.
In 2007, the school district made a push to build a new Hubble Middle School in Warrenville. During referendum talks, Johnson said the park district assured school officials any programs held at the site could be accommodated at other school district facilities and locations.
Johnson said the board will include an expectation in its bid documents that interested parties work closely with the park district and city to ensure the continued use of the green space.
“All of the developers who have approached us showed plans that left the green space intact,” Johnson said.
Thirteen acres of the property lie on a flood plain, which prohibits any building. Luetkehans said no formal discussions have taken place to determine the park district’s next move and those talks will not happen until the school district comes up with an asking price.
“It’s premature to know what we will do because we haven’t seen their price, but it’s clearly something we are considering,” he said. “We’re not done.”