Push on to finish new fitness center by fall in Geneva

Workers are putting in longer days, and in some cases working on Saturdays, to catch up on construction of the Peck Farm Park Fitness Center.

The center, which the Geneva Park District hoped to open in late August or early September, is four weeks behind schedule. Park district staff said work was delayed by the particularly cold and snowy winter.

But Commissioner Mike Abts questioned why the district should worry about the delay.

"Is there a real rush to go into overtime to get the building done?" he asked at a park board meeting Monday night.

Construction began last August on the 51,000-square-foot , $9.5 million building at Peck and Keslinger roads.

"They've really been pressing to catch up," said Sheavoun Lambillotte, the district's leisure services superintendent. Crews are putting in 10-hour days on weekdays, as well as working Saturdays when the weather has permitted. Framing is done and interior plumbing and electrical work are in full swing, she said. There are still large openings in the exterior walls, but that's on purpose to allow some construction equipment to get into the building.

Lambillotte explained several factors in the staff's decision to approve the overtime. First, it wanted to have the fitness center open by September to take advantage of a time of year when fitness center membership purchase and renewal is high. Second, the current budget expects revenue from additional programming in the building starting in the fall. And third, the contingency budget built into the project (for unexpected expenses) is still in the black, especially since some contracts came in at lower costs than budgeted, she said.

"We are doing very well in our contingency," Lambillotte said.

The center will have a gymnasium, exercise rooms, an indoor track, nursery facilities and classrooms. Memberships to the fitness center will be sold to residents and nonresidents, as they are at the district's current fitness center in the Sunset Community Center on Western Avenue.