Park district makes a “win-win-win” offer on Hubble site

Wheaton Park District officials say they have come up with what they call a “win-win-win” solution in the future sale of the former Hubble Middle School site.

One week after the park district offered to buy the 22-acre site off Wheaton Warrenville District 200 for “fair market value,” Executive Director Mike Benard said the park district would also commit to a future sale of a portion of the land to private developers.

This move, he said, would give the park district the land it covets, give the school district the immediate revenue it wants, and put the city in line to start receiving tax revenue on the property when the park district sells the land.

District 200 board President Andy Johnson said four private developers have shown interest in the property, which sits on the highly visible northwest corner of Roosevelt and Naperville roads. He said the district now awaits completion of an appraisal. The board will consider its options, including the mixed-use option, at its Feb. 9 meeting.

The park district’s latest offer aims to satisfy city and school officials’ hopes that the eventual sale will result in the property being placed on the city’s tax rolls.

The site has 13 acres of land that cannot support development because of its location on a flood plain.

Benard said the park district’s intention throughout the process has been to make sure it remains in the conversation.

“Our entire athletic program, which is very large, depends heavily on the use of that site,” he said.

Benard estimates that the park district, which uses several ball fields and about one-fifth of the 250,000-square-foot former middle school, puts in about 90,000 user-hours per year at the site. He said the park district has used the site for decades, but when Hubble Middle School moved to Warrenville in August 2009, the available hours at the property jumped because they were no longer limited to just nights and weekends.

Earlier this week, city councilmen Tom Mouhelis and Todd Scalzo floated a similar idea and said it would make sense to split the land and sell the two resulting parcels separately.

The difference, however, was that the park district’s plan would sell the entire property to the park district, making it the district’s responsibility to sell to private developers in the future. Also, the park district would remain in control of a part of the existing building.

Mouhelis said Thursday he hopes any eventual solution includes private developers.

“I want that property redeveloped,” he said. “The park district can have the field. But I want to see that property on the tax rolls.”

Meanwhile, Johnson said the school district will continue to take careful consideration of all its options.

“We certainly want to get out from under this as soon as possible,” he said. “We will consider everything that seems viable and makes sense.”

“It’s exciting and part of what we are elected to do is make these tough decisions.”

As officials line up on both sides of the debate, Mouhelis said he knows who holds the final decision on the site and that he has not been trying to tell the school district what to do with its land.

“It’d be like them trying to dictate to us what to do with city property,” he said. “It’s their prerogative, as a separate taxing agency. But I’d rather see it back on the tax rolls.”