Vernon Hills parks boss retiring

Sitting in his rapidly emptying office, Larry DeGraaf, executive director of the Vernon Hills Park District, admits feeling a bit uncertain about being out of work.

Growing up in Highland, Ind., he began a series of jobs at various grocery stores more than 50 years ago and never stopped. So it is with a mixture of relief and anticipation that he retires from a park district that has evolved rapidly since he arrived Jan. 2, 1997.

"I found it was a good park district that needed to rejuvenate itself. It was a lot of potential, a lot of possibilities," he said. While the programs were good, there was a need for parks during a rapid growth period.

"We needed somebody who could manage all these big changes and opportunities that were happening at the time," said Kelli Garvanian, former president and park board member who resigned last spring after 23 years.

Since DeGraaf started, nine community parks have been developed and every park renovated with playgrounds, shelters and paths. The centerpiece Family Aquatic Center was upgraded and expanded.

The Summer Celebration grounds at Century Park, by far the district's largest, were overhauled in 2007, and major improvements to the shorelines at Big Bear and Little Bear lakes are ongoing.

The sometimes-rocky relationship with the village government - the park district once sued the village over a parking lot, and the aquatic center expansion was originally rejected by the village - appears to be in decent shape.

Major issues for the future include a multimillion dollar field house, but that likely is a few years away. For now, a lot of the work in the district involves fine tuning.

His career in the recreation field began by happenstance. After three years of active duty in the Navy, a degree in physical education and a masters in education administration, he was looking in a different direction.

"I thought someday, I'd be a school superintendent," he said. He looked for teaching jobs but because of his experience was considered too costly.

While attending school, he had been working part-time at a local park district in West Lafayette, Ind. When the director quit, he applied and got the job.

That led to stints at Floyd County in Indiana and then Great Lakes Naval Base, where he ran the morale, welfare and recreation program for 14 years. The last stop before Vernon Hills was the Golf Maine Park District near Des Plaines.

Once in Vernon Hills, DeGraaf said he was immediately besieged with phone calls from residents wondering what was going to be done on several fronts.

An ambitious master plan was completed in 1998, but funding was a problem.

"We had no money for capital improvements when I came here," DeGraaf said. "My first goal was we've got to work with the village. Just that simple."

Impact fees that had been held by the village were secured, debt was refinanced and grants were aggressively pursued, resulting in several million dollars with which to work.

At the same time, DeGraaf was tightening policies and procedures and setting goals and objectives for the staff.

"A lot of why we are where we are today is because of that," according to Garvanian.

A second master plan was completed in 2005, and the district has been a finalist for a national award for excellence the past three years. It also has been designated a distinguished agency by the Illinois Association of Park Districts.

He's still rehabbing from the second knee replacement in just over a year. Like many who leave a longtime post, the Hawthorn Woods resident wants to spend more time with the kids and improve the golf game.

"It's been very enjoyable, very rewarding," he said. "You get to see the results of your work."