Rec center proposal back on Lisle Park District agenda

Lisle park leaders are on the verge of a significant and costly step toward building an 86,000-square-foot indoor recreation center -- and they're still looking for input to gauge public support.

The park district board will meet at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the Community Center, 1825 Short St., to hear a presentation from Carol Stream-based Williams Architects about plans for the $20 million-plus facility to meet growing demands for indoor space.

After the presentation, administrators are expected to recommend the board approve a contract totaling about $164,000 for the architects to create schematic designs for the complex.

Board President Donald Cook and Director of Parks and Recreation Dan Garvy say the schematics are crucial in determining the types of programs the center can offer and how much it will cost to build and operate.

Garvy said the district must compile "hard facts" about the potential costs and services before deciding whether to ask voters to approve a tax-increase referendum to finance the project. That referendum could appear on the ballot by as early as November.

"We're hopeful that the center will be able to pay for itself, but we're not certain at this point," he said. "We need to iron it out."

With such questions in mind, Garvy and Cook say they hope to attract a sizable crowd to collect feedback.

"This is really a center for the community and I'd like to hear from as many people as possible, whether pro or con," Cook said Thursday.

Officials say they believe the facility is needed to provide indoor space that isn't available at its two cramped, aging and outdated buildings -- the Community Center and the Meadows Center at 5801 Westview Lane.

Without a new building, Garvy said the district would probably still have to seek as much as $10 million through a referendum to repair and modernize those two buildings, which cover a combined 40,000 square feet -- all without actually providing any additional space.

Officials say the new building, which would be built on the current Community Center site, would be at least twice as expensive, but also would be more than twice as large, provide state-of-the-art amenities and be designed with greater flexibility to meet future needs.

Tentative plans call for the building to include three full-sized basketball courts, a track, a larger fitness facility, the Gentle Learning Preschool, an arts and crafts room, a senior wing, meeting rooms, multipurpose rooms and staff offices.

It also would allow the district to raze the Community Center and consider other options involving the Meadows Center, which is owned by Lisle Unit District 202.

The construction phase of the project probably would take 12 to 18 months.

Garvy said the district already has spent $40,000 studying the project's feasibility and the new contract would bring the total to more than $200,000.

That expenditure is a concern, he said, but it's also necessary to work out as many details as possible before pursuing "the biggest project that the park district has ever done."

If you go

What: Lisle Park District discusses plans for new recreation center

When: 8:30 a.m. Saturday

Where: Community Center, 1825 Short St., Lisle

Info: www.lisleparkdistrict.org