Hubble School referendum gains support

The push to move Hubble Middle School out of Wheaton gained some notable, but perhaps not surprising, support Wednesday night.

The Wheaton Chamber of Commerce announced its support of the Feb. 5 referendum that will ask Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 taxpayers for $58 million to move Hubble to Warrenville.

The tax increase already received the support of the Warrenville city council and Warrenville mayor. Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk has also endorsed the ballot question after a long history of former Wheaton Mayor Jim Carr remaining neutral on the issue.

The chamber of commerce's endorsement adds to that partial list of supporters. The endorsement is less surprising as Gresk, the school district and members of the school district's Hubble subcommittee are members of the chamber.

Moving Hubble would allow for the redevelopment of the current Hubble site in Wheaton. The chamber's endorsement echoed the sentiments of other fans of the move by calling for increasing Wheaton's tax base by bulldozing the current school and ushering new business onto the site. Supporters believe redevelopment of the land will create a new, more attractive gateway to Wheaton's downtown.

Such a turn of events would likely add to the chamber's membership.

The chamber hosted a brainstorming session back in 2007 for the community to pair with designers in developing visions for what a redeveloped Hubble could look like.

Wheaton Park District Executive Director Mike Benard also appeared at the school board meeting Wednesday night. He did not provide an outright endorsement of the Hubble referendum, but said he felt confident the park district and school district can resolve any recreation space deficiencies resulting from moving Hubble.