Dundee-Crown football stadium gets new bathrooms

When classes begin next week, Dundee-Crown High School students will inaugurate new facilities the Carpentersville school has sought for more than 40 years: Permanent bathrooms for the football stadium.

Gone are the four portable toilets that have seen far too much action and serviced so many patrons during the spring through fall sports seasons, officials said.

In their place, a permanent structure now stands housing six stalls each of men's and women's bathrooms that also are handicap accessible.

"They're wonderful," said Dan Palombit, associate principal. "The building has been doing everything we can to save enough money for this project over the years ... because we wanted to do it right. We wanted to make sure that our facility was really able to shine. We have really nice football, track and soccer fields down there. What was missing was a structure for the bathrooms."

Officials saved up the $350,000 needed for the improvements from a combination of gate receipts and other fees collected at the school.

From student athletes and band members to anyone who ever has attended a game at the school since it opened in 1964, "Pretty much everyone who walks in" has sought this, Palombit said.

"We are glad that we can actually make that a reality now, and really kind of complete everything down there to make it a true stadium ... with appropriate washing facilities with running water and flushing toilets," he said.

The facilities are state-of-the-art with automatic flushes on all the fixtures, and automatic sensors on hand dryers and sinks.

"In an effort to be economic and environmentally conscious, we opted to have a high-powered hand dryer instead of paper towels," Palombit said.

Another environment-friendly feature is there is no hot water heater, instead the water is heated on demand as it runs through the pipes, he added.

"The best part about it is it can be used every single day," Palombit said.

Chuck Bumbales, assistant superintendent of operations, said officials have been working on the designs for the bathrooms for the last five years.

"It's our last football complex in the district that does not have one," said Bumbales, who graduated from the school in 1979 and played quarterback. "To see it come to fruition all these years later is really fulfilling from a personal and professional standpoint. It's very exciting for them as a school and as a community."

The school got permission from residents of neighboring Fox View Apartments to hook into their sewer system, and secured permits from the village to get the lines connected.

To complement the new facilities, the school's booster club is funding new speakers for the football stadium and the concession stand is being repainted. A cement patio at the entrance to the concession area also has been expanded.

"There's a lot of people that put their heads together so it's really a community-based effort to get this done," Bumbales said. "I think the whole community is going to be really proud of that structure."