Residents protest Palatine pool’s proposed closure

There were seniors who fondly recall summer nights back in the 1960s, first-time homebuyers thankful for a sense of community and kids who enjoy the freedom of riding their bikes to a neighborhood hot spot.

Nearly 100 people from those groups and many more — some carrying homemade signs — Tuesday night packed the basement of the Palatine Senior Center to implore the Palatine Park District board to save Willow Pool.

“It’s more than just a community pool,” said John Hake, who grew up swimming at the pool 40 years ago moved back to the Willowwood neighborhood as an adult. “It’s part of a fabric of Palatine.”

The emotional pleas follow the park district staff’s recommendation to close the aging Stark Drive facility, which has served the village’s east side for the past 47 years.

The park board, which didn’t weigh in on the issue and instead let residents speak, will vote May 10. whether to close the pool.

At the meeting, neighbors Mike Henning and Jim Dietrich made a thorough presentation questioning park district claims about declining attendance and costs.

They argue that the park district’s horse stable and golf course currently lose hundreds of thousands of dollars each year compared to about $1,000 at Willow Pool, and say children’s safety will be put at-risk because they’ll have to cross Hicks Road to get to the other three pools.

They also point to a park district study that shows residents are already underserved in terms of the pools’ combined capacities.

But Executive Director Ron Gbur has cited expensive maintenance for a small, outdated pool that a declining number of mostly neighborhood people use. He has said a major renovation would prove costly and problematic because of space limitations, new codes and parking requirements.

On Tuesday, Gbur said he knew his comments weren’t popular to the roomful of Willow Pool supporters, but told residents they’ll have three much larger and more modern pools at their disposal.

“I just don’t believe that rebuilding and operating a pool for primarily a neighborhood ... is in the best interest of the entire park district. I have to make recommendations for 83,000 people,” Gbur said.