Glendale Heights trustees have many wants

When it comes to a revamped Sports Hub and water park, Glendale Heights trustees want it all.

For starters, how about an indoor pool, with multi-level diving boards, and maybe a new outdoor pool, too? An expanded fitness center would be nice.

And so would an entirely new fitness complex. Just think of the possibilities if the Sports Hub was razed.

As for what they want and what they get, well, that's a different story.

Trustees threw out all sorts of "wants" Thursday night when they met with consultants helping develop plans for a renovated, updated and expanded municipal complex.

"I want a swimming pool with a diving pool so we can have a dive team who can come and use this facility," Trustee Pat Maritato said.

Though trustees threw out the idea of having such a pool be constructed in an indoor facility, Tom Lalonde of Williams Architects and Pat O'Toole of GreenPlay consultants presented the reality of costs.

"Indoor pools are very expensive to operate, very tough to get revenue on, and like gymnasiums in summer, very seasonal," O'Toole said.

Trustee Scott Kibort suggested using a temporary inflatable covering similar to those placed over tennis clubs and driving ranges in the winter.

O'Toole again cautioned they become very expensive because chlorine from the pool forces their replacement about every five years.

Though the existing water park is only 10 years old, it's geared primarily toward younger users and has a maximum depth of five feet, Trustee Ed Pope said.

"If you're over 8 to 10 years of age, our pool is worthless," he said.

The consultants recommended looking at ways to expand the current fitness center, which is about 3,000 square feet, because they tend to be very successful and popular. To fit that bill, though, they need to be around 6,000 to 8,000 square feet and have sufficient equipment so people are not waiting to use machines.

They also recommended surveying the community to determine its recreation wants and what it's willing to pay for programmatically.

Several broad plan ideas will come back to officials sometime in July and trustees then will give them further direction based on those ideas. They'll then develop more detailed plans.