Elmhurst Park District eyes possible referendum for new Wagner center, amenities

The Elmhurst Park District will conduct a voter survey to help officials decide whether to put forward a November ballot question that would seek funding for a new Wagner Community Center, a band shell in Wilder Park and other outdoor amenities.

The park district is also hosting a series of open houses next week and in May to detail the proposed projects in its long-term improvement plan, called “Elevate Elmhurst Parks.”

“We have tremendous demand for our programs, our recreational programs,” Executive Director Jim Rogers said. “And unfortunately … as the plan and the community have told us, we don't have enough indoor space. So we have significant waitlists for our programs.”

The current proposal calls for the construction of the Wilder Park band shell with year-round heated restrooms and converting a grass field to artificial turf at Berens Park. The district also would install heated restroom buildings at Crestview Park, Eldridge Park and the Prairie Path.

The largest potential project — replacing the aging Wagner Community Center with a 127,500-square-foot facility on the same site — could cost an estimated $84.95 million. The outdoor amenities would total an additional $5 million.

To turn that vision into a reality, the park district would have to seek voter permission to borrow money by issuing bonds. If voters approved such a request, the owner of a $500,000 home — the median value in Elmhurst — would pay roughly $325 more a year in property taxes to the park district.

“We are not looking at an operating increase,” Rogers said Friday. “We’re just looking strictly at the bond sale.”

Officials are confident that with the ability to expand programming, the district would be able to generate nontax revenues through registration fees and facility rentals to fund the costs of operating a new community center, Rogers said.

The nearly 70-year-old Wagner building was originally Cornille Grade School.

“The demand for indoor amenities like walking tracks, gymnasiums, and artificial turf continues to be a top priority,” park board President Kevin Graf said in a statement. “The district lacks these amenities presently, and we’ve observed a substantial increase in program registrations along with lengthy waitlists.”

The new community center would house an elevated, multilane walking track, indoor gymnasium and court space for pickleball, basketball and volleyball, a multisport artificial turf field, plus larger gymnastics and dance spaces.

The new facility also would contain expanded and dedicated spaces for early childhood programming and more multipurpose rooms that would allow the park district to reduce waitlists, Rogers said.

The district also aims to provide a more permanent venue for concerts and events in Wilder Park. Officials have not yet determined a precise location for the band shell, but it would generally be situated on the open lawn east of the Wilder mansion. That area has a long tradition of hosting concerts and movie screenings.

“In fact, one of the first programs that the Elmhurst Park District ever offered back in the 1940s was a program called Music under the Stars in Wilder Park,” Rogers said.

Last year, officials commissioned a communitywide survey and held focus groups to develop the Elevate Elmhurst Parks plan. The latest survey is intended for a random sample of likely registered voters so officials can find out if there might be public support for funding the community center construction and the outdoor amenities.

Rogers anticipates getting the survey results back in June.

The district’s open houses are scheduled for Monday, April 29, at Courts Plus; Tuesday, April 30, at the Kies Recreation Center; and May 2, at the Wagner Community Center.

The park board would have to pass a resolution no later than Aug. 19 to put a question on November ballots.

The park district district has not gone to referendum since the early 1970s, Rogers said.

“I think it's also important to note that the Elmhurst Park District tax rate is in the lower third of all park districts in DuPage County,“ he said.