Lake Park to close for Ryder Cup in '12

Lake Park High School will close for a week in September 2012 to avoid potential conflicts with the 39th Ryder Cup golf tournament at nearby Medinah Country Club.

Lake Park District 108 officials agreed this week to allow the PGA of America to use the Roselle campuses during the tournament that will run from Sept. 25-30 that year.

Even with the week off, district officials said Lake Park students will have the required 176 days of classroom instruction. Classes will begin Aug. 14 and a snow day still will be built into the schedule.

Superintendent Lynne Panega said Lake Park also will maintain traditional holiday break schedules, although administrators are considering holding school on Columbus Day because it falls so close to the Ryder Cup.

“The natural fluctuation of our school calendar truly worked in our favor for fall 2012,” she said.

Officials say the golf tournament is expected to attract 45,000 people a day, including numerous world leaders and their security teams. Lake Park’s East Campus is across from Medinah Country Club on the two-lane Medinah Road, which will be completely closed to general traffic during the event.

School officials say that will make access to Lake Park’s East Campus almost impossible.

“During the 2006 PGA Championship (which was held at Medinah during the summer), some residents had trouble accessing their homes through even the side roads due to all the traffic,” District 108 spokeswoman Jennifer Jungel said. “So with that, along with security issues, we thought it would be best to take our busses and student traffic out of the equation.”

So far, the East Campus tentatively is slated to be used as a shuttle site. Ryder Cup fans will be dropped off there from the general parking site at Arlington Park Racetrack in Arlington Heights.

PGA of America provided District 108 with $160,000 to help offset costs to close the school. Lake Park also will receive 20 tickets to the Ryder Cup, which the district will sell to generate more revenue.

In addition, the PGA is slated to donate up to $240,000 to help secure volunteers for staffing at the tournament, including help with concessions and parking. Its agreement with Lake Park will use parent and student groups to provide 475 volunteers daily and, in turn, make financial donations to the groups.

The Ryder Cup will need a total of 3,500 volunteers daily.

Panega said Lake Park students will be involved not only as possible volunteers, but also in the classroom. Although lesson plans are not hammered out for the event that is more than a year away, Panega said she sees potential for lessons in classes such as economics, social studies and Lake Park’s service and action class.

“From a curricular standpoint, there are so many learning opportunities and connections,” she said.