Voters reject new Lisle community center

Backers of a new community center in Lisle believe the economy played a big part in voters' rejection of a $21.9 million construction plan.

"It's not a vote against the community center as much as it is a vote of non-confidence in the economy itself. That's what I've been telling people," said Dave Van Kampen, chairman of the group Residents for a New Community Center.

With all 28 precincts reporting Tuesday, unofficial tallies show 59 percent of those who voted opposed the measure and 41 percent supported it.

Lisle Park District officials asked voters to approve the tax increase to build an 85,449-square-foot indoor recreation facility.

They began considering a referendum proposal last year after Lisle Unit District 202 announced it planned to sell the Meadows Center and raise the annual lease on the facility from $24,000 to $144,000. Officials said it would cost about $10 million to repair both that building and the outdated Community Center, but the work wouldn't address programming needs.

Had voters approved the tax increase, the owner of a $300,000 house would have paid about $99 a year more for the next 20 years.