Schaumburg Park District director to retire

Schaumburg Park District Executive Director Jean Schlinkmann will retire next May after more than 30 years with the district — the last eight in her current position.

Schlinkmann, 54, joined the park district in 1981 as an administrative and public relations coordinator. She has also been director of communications and special projects, corporate recreation manager and golf course manager. She was assistant director for three years before she succeeded Jerry Handlon as executive director in 2004.

“We’re going to miss her!” park district board President Sharon DiMaria said.

Among the accomplishments of which Schlinkmann feels most proud are the development of the Volkening Heritage Farm and Olympic Park to their current forms.

“I would say I’m very proud of leading a team,” Schlinkmann said. “I feel that my administrative staff is really a team.”

She believes the vision of her predecessors has played a strong part in the park district’s success — particularly the commitment to serve all residents well.

“The community trusts us to provide quality programming — not just baby-sitting services,” Schlinkmann said.

And even in these economically difficult times, she believes public demand is still for services, as more and more people are forced to find their recreational opportunities closer to home.

Before joining the district, Schlinkmann worked as a landscape architect. And some artistic pursuits are among her plans for the time off she plans to take immediately after stepping down.

Board members learned the news as they began negotiations toward what they believed would be the next of Schlinkmann’s usual two-year contracts. But Schlinkmann told the board she was interested in retiring after only one more year.

“It was a surprise,” DiMaria said. “We were a bit taken aback.”

The board is open to consideration of both in-house and external candidates. As far as internal candidates go, the district has a wealth of experience and expertise to draw on, she said.

“Our gold-medal park district wouldn’t be gold-medal if we didn’t have some outstanding people working here,” DiMaria added.

But a question arises from the fact that many of the district’s most senior employees started about the same time as Schlinkmann, and it’s unknown whether they too may be considering retirement in the near future.

Handlon was executive director for 26 years before Schlinkmann succeeded him, and the district’s administration building was subsequently named after him.