Glen Ellyn pool project rejected

Glen Ellyn Park District voters appear to have rejected a plan to spend $13.5 million to build an indoor aquatic center in their community.

With all 40 precincts reporting, unofficial totals from Tuesday's election show 60 percent of park district voters opposed the project while 40 percent supported the plan.

The proposal called for the park district to borrow $13.5 million - to be repaid with property taxes - to build an addition to the Ackerman Sports and Fitness Center that would house a pool facility.

Officials had pledged the proposed aquatic center would not exceed $13.5 million. The district had planned to borrow the money as earlier debts were repaid, meaning property owners would not have paid more in taxes to fund the construction but also would not have received an anticipated decrease as existing debt is paid off in 2017.

Now, the owner of a $400,000 house can expect to see taxes paid to the park district decrease by about $146 beginning with their 2017 taxes, payable in 2018. The facility would have included a main lap pool, a smaller warm water pool, spectator areas, multipurpose space and locker rooms. Programming would have included competitive swimming, swim lessons, water polo and diving.

Executive Director Dave Harris said the next step is for the park district's board of commissioners to review the election results.

"We're certainly disappointed that the voters have not given their approval to add the indoor aquatic center," Harris said. "We truly believe this could have been a tremendous benefit for the community, and … we were confident that it was the right path at least to ask the question."