Lisle Park District to take new look at rec center plans

It's been a month since voters overwhelmingly rejected Lisle Park District's request for a $21.9 million tax increase to fund construction of an 85,449-square-foot indoor recreation center in Community Park.

Now park leaders are inviting residents on both sides of the issue to come together tonight to discuss how the district should move forward in the wake of that defeat.

The park board is expected to consider a variety of options, from pursuing another referendum this spring or next to allocating resources toward the continued use of existing facilities.

"We want to be sensitive to what the community said in the referendum," Executive Director Dan Garvy said. "The last thing I want is to give the impression we're ignoring what the community said."

Roughly 59 percent of voters opposed the park district's referendum proposal on Nov. 4. A key question facing the park board is whether that opposition was based on unhappiness with the plans or with concerns about the timing of the proposal in a troubled economy.

That question will be at the forefront when the board meets at 7 p.m. in the community center board room at 1825 Short St. Officials are inviting anyone willing to share their opinion, and Garvy said he's contacted several people who openly opposed the referendum to hear their views.

"You can't fight concerns with the economy," he said. "If that's the case, then the question becomes, how soon is the faith in the economy going to be restored?"

If park leaders decide to pursue a referendum in April 2009, they'd have to decide by early February to put the question on the ballot. If they elect to wait, their next opportunity to seek a vote would be in spring 2010.

Park board President Don Cook said he's eager to hear what residents think the district should do next.

"We need to sit down with anybody and everybody - both pro and con," he said. "My personal opinion right now is that I'm a little gun-shy about doing anything in April."

Garvy said he wants to move carefully, too.

"If we go to referendum again, we must decide when's the best time for the community to decide," he said. "If we decide to go in April 2010, I think we should look at the plan again, pick it apart and decide if this is still the best thing for us."

He said the district also will have to look at existing programs and facilities to trim any potential fat.

"If we're going to be cramped for space, we need to make some tough decisions about cuts," he said.

Park officials said they began pursuing plans for a new recreation center in response to resident surveys.

The plan they put before voters would have cost the owner of a $300,000 house about $99 more annually for each of the next 20 years.

Officials say a new building is needed because the district's two existing indoor facilities - the community center and the Meadows Center at 5801 Westview Lane, which it leases from Lisle Unit District 202 - are both aging, expensive to maintain and lack flexibility for programming.

The park district's lease for the Meadows Center is scheduled to expire at the end of September 2009.

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p> <p class="News"><b>What:</b> Lisle Park District meeting to discuss proposed recreation center in wake of referendum defeat</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 7 p.m. today, Dec. 8</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Community Center board room, 1825 Short St., Lisle</p> <p class="News"><b>Info:</b> (630) 964-3410 or <a href="http://www.lisleparkdistrict.org/special.htm" target="new">lisleparkdistrict.org/special.htm</a>. </p>