Lombard to ask voters for water park

Months after closing down its outdoor pool for the final summer season, the Lombard Park District will ask voters for money to build a new water park on its site.

Park district officials will go to referendum in February to ask voters for $5.9 million to build a new aquatic center to replace Moran Water Park.

Thursday was the final day for government agencies to file with the DuPage County Election Commission to place a referendum on the Feb. 5 ballot.

Park commissioners voted in September to scrap plans for a 2008 swim season after failing infrastructure forced the closing of the lap pool at the 50-year-old facility.

"The residents definitely got their money's worth," parks Executive Director Paul Friedrichs said, noting that the projected lifespan of the water park was 30 years.

Parks officials have been preparing their case for a referendum for several months. During the summer, the park district surveyed residents.

"Sixty-two percent of residents said they'd be in favor of having the park district ask the question," Friedrichs said. "Now they didn't say they'd be in favor of saying 'yes' to that question."

The vote to close the Moran Water Park was followed closely by the park board's decision to spend $5,000 on architectural plans to design a new aquatic center.

Those plans are on display on the agency's Web site, www.lombardparks.com.

Friedrichs said a new aquatics center will cost the park district up to $9 million. Should voters OK the $5.9 million, the remainder of the tab will be paid with reserve funds.

The Lombard Park District's referendum is among 20 ballot questions in DuPage County.

Others include a request by Naperville Unit District 203 for a $43 million tax increase to pay mainly for a massive overhaul of aging Naperville Central High School.

DuPage voters will also be asked to support a quarter-cent sales tax increase to stave off a financial crisis.