Antioch board vote may leave aquatic center dry

Fifteen months ago, Antioch officials took the first steps needed to make the Antioch Aquatic Center a reality.

Tonight, those plans could end up back at square one if the village board votes to dissolve a controversial resolution naming the Bitner Farm property as the location of the center.

Antioch Parks and Recreation Director Laurie Stahl said if the board has a better site in mind, then she is open to suggestions. But if the move has to do with politics, she feels residents are being slighted.

"Don't just undo this because the former board did it and you don't like it," Stahl said. "It's so silly. I wish the trustees would do what they were elected to do and represent the best interests of the residents of Antioch."

Trustees will make their decision at 7:30 tonight at Antioch village hall, 874 Main St.

The village purchased the 12-acre Bitner Farm in 2005 for $425,000.

Located along the south side of North Avenue, across from Nelson Road and adjacent to an 8-acre park, the spot seemed like a perfect place for a new pool complex.

Once built, the new pool would replace the 50-year-old pool in Williams Park behind the Antioch Library.

So far, the village has spent $19,000 on architectural work done by Wheaton-based PHN Architects to come up with nine concept plans for an aquatic center on the Bitner Farm site.

But residents of the nearby subdivision, Arbors of Windmill Creek, have opposed the site since the beginning, expressing concerns over noise, light and water pollution, and lower property values.

In May 2006, a sign was put on the parcel deeming it the future home of the Antioch Aquatic Center. Later that year, the village passed a resolution saying the Bitner Farm would be the site for the project.

But now, village officials aren't so sure this is the best site -- giving Arbors of Windmill Creek homeowners a reason to be optimistic.

"Am I happy if it's disbanded? You bet. That means they are still looking at other alternatives," said Kathy Kurth, who lives on Netherlands Drive. "I'm not saying 'No pool for Antioch,' but sometimes you have to make do with what you have. They sill haven't convinced many people rebuilding the pool at Williams Park would not be a good solution."

Pam Haines, a member of the Antioch Waves Swim Team's parent board, said it shouldn't be up to one subdivision to decide the fate of the village's aquatic center.

"There is no current site to make this happen in the near future without going through all the legwork which Antioch has already done in finding and purchasing the Bitner property," Haines said in a letter to Mayor Dorothy Larson and the village trustees.

Last week, Park Board Chairman Jeffrey Benes wrote a letter asking the village to move forward with plans at the Bitner site by identifying funding mechanisms for the aquatic center.

Stahl said if the board rejects the Bitner property tonight, she is afraid the park board will give up.

"They've been working on this for six years," she said. "They found a great piece of land for a great price that abuts land we already have. I just hope they don't vote because of politics and listen to what the majority of residents want."