New recreation center on the horizon for Villa Park

Villa Park trustees have adopted several measures for a potential multimillion-dollar recreation center in Lions Park.

The board on Monday approved an ordinance finalizing the sale of nearly $7.5 million in bonds to help fund the recreation center planned for a site at 350 E. Wildwood Ave. The bonds were issued on March 14 and purchased by Minneapolis-based Piper Sandler Investment Bank.

Villa Park also approved a grant application that will be submitted to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. This past September, the IDNR had conditionally awarded the village a $10 million state grant from its Build Illinois Bond Fund that could go toward constructing a new recreation center.

But to access the grant money, the village had to speedily come up with a site and scope plan for the recreation center. Villa Park had to show it had the financial means and design plans ready for the project to break ground this year and be completed within a two-year time frame.

Itasca-based Williams Architects/Aquatics has worked with Villa Park on the proposed Lions Park recreation center since 2018.

Williams Architects has provided multiple schematic plans for the recreation center. Those plans were discussed and fine-tuned during three public input meetings in December and January.

If built, the 41,525-square-foot building will feature a ground-floor gymnasium and second-level walking/running track. The building also will have rooms focused on group fitness and a dedicated "Creative Kids" drop-in space. In addition, there will be kitchen space for catered special occasions.

An adjacent outdoor aquatics center was considered but ultimately rejected for the Lions Park site. Instead, Villa Park trustees backed a plan that keeps and renovates an existing north ballfield in Lions Park, plus a new outdoor basketball court and playground.

Since Williams Architects had already provided most of the preliminary recreation center design work, Villa Park trustees also voted to retain the firm. The new agreement, which is not to exceed $1.378 million, includes all design and construction support on the project.

Trustee Jack Kozar expressed some displeasure with the limited time given to study the services agreement. He said board members were not given a copy until the Friday before the meeting.

"It's a lot of money for the board to make a decision with basically three-days notice - at a point where we have to accept it or we're not going to be able to submit our grant," said Kozar. But he ultimately voted for the agreement.

Williams Architects CEO Tom Poulos was on hand to go through a detailed presentation of the recreation center's features and design plans. These are to be included in the application to the IDNR for the $10 million state grant.