Big-ticket projects on hold in Mount Prospect parks

In a persistently tough economy, the Mount Prospect Park District, like many local governments, isn’t in a position to embark on big-ticket projects in the near future.

Instead, park district officials say the biggest thing on the docket for 2012 is completion of a roof-replacement project at the RecPlex fitness center, which turned 20 this year.

“We’re doing fine, holding our own, but financially, we can’t really start anything major right now,” park district CEO Walter Cook said. “Our focus is to maintain our infrastructure as well as we can.”

The park district this year completed the first two phases of the three-phase RecPlex project. The remainder of the roof work, scheduled for completion next year, is expected to cost between $980,000 and $1.1 million, Cook said.

Things might change in 2014, when the district expects to pay off some existing debt, freeing up more money for projects.

With that in mind, district officials recently held a retreat to prioritize future projects.

Among the possibilities discussed were renovation of the Big Surf Wave Pool, improvement of irrigation and drainage at the Mount Prospect Golf Course, completion of the Veterans Memorial Bandshell at Lions Park and construction of a driving range at Melas Park.

“It’s a varied list, and we definitely hope to be able to tackle those in a few years,” Cook said. “Like everything else, the district is getting older, and we can’t put off these kinds of projects forever.”