Libertyville panel recommends athletic field plan for ex-Brainerd campus

Variations needed for a $4 million athletic field proposed on the site of the former Libertyville High School and Jackson Gym have been recommended for approval by the village's zoning board of appeals.

Commissioners on Monday voted 5-2 to approve each of seven variations regarding fencing, signage and the amount of open space along the perimeter of the property at Brainerd Avenue and Route 176 (Park Avenue). The plan by Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128, which owns the property, has been on hold as community efforts to save the buildings ebbed and flowed.

"We waited almost 10 years to move ahead with this plan," school board President Pat Groody told the panel. "It goes a long way to improve the current need (for athletic space) on the Libertyville campus."

As the last gasp, voters in 2014 trounced a request to raise property taxes to repurpose the century-old school building as a community center. Both buildings have been demolished and the nearly 5-acre site cleared.

District 128 wants to build an athletic field with permeable synthetic turf, a 96-stall parking lot and a 30-foot by 50-foot storage/restroom building. The field would be oriented in an east/west direction and be striped for football, lacrosse and soccer practice and games. Markings also would be made in a north/south direction for practice fields and the entire field area would be encircled by an 8-foot high ornamental fence.

The plan doesn't sit well with a smattering of opponents and residents who fear flooding on neighboring streets and balls flying out of the field of play and into traffic.

Consultants for the district showed the artificial surface would reduce the amount stormwater runoff by as much as 15 percent. That allowed for a detention area that had been proposed at the west end of the site to be eliminated. Also, the north/south field width was reduced by 10 feet to allow for landscaping to improve drainage.

Architect Mike Kollman lives across the street and fought to preserve the buildings. He cited a lack of open public space and said the fence will make it look like a "prison yard."

"From a community planning perspective, I feel these plans to be extremely insensitive," he told the panel.

School officials said the project would provide more opportunities for the district to share athletic facilities with the community.

Libertyville resident Tim Anderson said the district needs a master plan for facilities.

"Why the rush?" he asked. "How does it fit in the big picture?"

The village and school boards each have to approve final versions of the plan.