Hubble deal may involve land swap
A land swap could be part of a potential deal to give Wheaton Park District control of portions of the old Hubble Middle School site it long has coveted, officials said Thursday.
Park board President Ray Morrill, however, stressed that giving the developer portions of Central Park, which lies directly west of Hubble, remains merely an option. But he also insisted that the vision for the overall site, one that would create a physical gateway into downtown Wheaton, always included using a portion of the park.
Central Park includes the district’s former administration building as well as tennis courts and field space.
“If we didn’t sell (Central Park), we were going to knock the building down anyway,” Morrill said. “It’s not used by us, it’s an eyesore and we want to get rid of it.”
On June 30, Bradford Equities LLC bought the 22-acre Hubble site from Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 for $5,000,200. As part of the sale, the school district included a condition that the buyer make a “good-faith effort” to work with the park district on 13 acres that lie in a flood plain. Soon after it acquired the site, Bradford indicated it would work to turn over those 13 acres quickly.
“(Central Park) is an option that at some point we will consider,” Morrill said. “It may or may not even be necessary. But we do want to get this going as quickly as possible.”
Morrill said talks with the developer have been hindered by the July 4 holiday and only informal talks have been held since the sale. He said he hoped to start making real progress next week.
Park officials looked on fearfully as the school district put the site up for sale in February. In May, after two auctions failed to garner any bids for the school district, the park district partnered with Bradford to make an offer on the property, which the park district uses extensively for many of its programs.
However, Bradford officials said they saw several obstacles in the joint offer and submitted a separate, independent offer, one of four received by the school district.
Morrill would not speculate as to the likelihood that the land swap would happen. He said the gateway remains a goal but that plan would most likely involve razing the former administrative building on the Central Park site.
In the past, park officials said that they would limit any expenses on the Hubble site to $6 million. Morrill said that number has not changed and it represents the maximum park officials felt they could invest in the property and Hubble’s three gymnasiums.
“Our primary goal remains to preserve the open space, which we have accomplished, and preserve the gymnasiums,” he said. “Again, we are very happy Bradford is the developer we are working with.”