Parents favor sports fields near Central, not gardens
A new set of voices sprouted Monday in Naperville's ongoing debate of whether to move downtown garden plots to make way for athletic fields.
Roughly 140 people on Monday attended the second of three community forums held by Naperville Unit District 203 and the park district to discuss Naperville Central High School's shortage of athletic fields.
Unlike the first meeting that was dominated by gardeners, the latest drew quite a few parents of athletes making a case for constructing fields close to the school.
"We have so much pressure on them (students) today to try to stay on top of the grades, qualify for college," said Central parent Kevin Kelly. "Isn't education our No. 1 thing here? So now we're going to add 60 minutes onto these kids' day just because we can't move some plots here?
The school sits on 35 acres, smaller than newer schools that are typically built on 60 to 100 acres. It leases land owned by the Naperville Cemetery but will lose it next year; meanwhile, the number of IHSA-sanctioned sports is increasing. The district already plans to put synthetic turf in the football stadium, but Superintendent Alan Leis said it will not entirely solve the problem.
The districts have come up with four options. The most controversial is to relocate some of the downtown garden plots from West Street to the south side of town at either the DuPage River Park or Southwest Community Park.
This plan would add about 100 more garden plots and would cost about $750,000 between the two districts to create the necessary infrastructure.
The second option would make use of a third field at Knoch Park currently used by youth football leagues at a cost of about $28,000 annually.
Another option is to move some teams to off-campus sites owned by the school or park district or leased from another entity. This options has a one-time cost of about $17,685 and an annual cost of at least $31,000.
The final option would be to create athletic fields at the DuPage River Park or Nike Park, which would cost more than $517,000 in one-time expenses and another $31,000 a year.
Those who want athletic fields close to Central said Monday it is a matter of both convenience and safety.
"We're talking about ... putting our students on buses in all kinds of weather," said Louette Rausch. "They're going to be out at this park and there's absolutely no shelter. They're going to be away from our training facility, away from our hospital."
But gardeners have expressed concerns about their own convenience.
"I live within walking distance of the garden plots," said Julie Federico, one of many gardeners in attendance. "I'm certainly not going to drive a half-hour to get to DuPage River Park. "
The final forum will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 203 W. Hillside Road.
Anyone who is unable to attend can e-mail comments to athleticfields@naperville203.org.