Vernon Hills may cut park pay phones

A lack of use in a cellular world could mean the end of the line for pay phones in Vernon Hills parks.

"They're kind of a dying breed," said Vernon Hills Park District Board President Jim Ballowe.

Casual observations led the board to ask district staff to crunch the numbers to determine how much pay phones at park district facilities are being used.

"Nine of the 10 haven't been used in a 24-month period," executive director Jeff Fougerousse said. "One phone at Hartmann Park gets a fair amount of use. The others get nothing at all."

Three years ago, the district faced a dilemma because the charges for leasing pay phones were about to substantially increase. The board switched providers, entering into a three-year contract with Innovative Businesses and Services Inc., of Glendale Heights.

That contract, which calls for a lease payment of about $5,400 a year, recently was renewed. Staff is reviewing the contract obligations and could recommend removal of the phones.

One argument for keeping them a few years ago was the district is providing an emergency service. But even in that short time, cellular phone use has jumped.

As of June 2008, there were nearly 263 million wireless subscribers or nearly 83 percent of the population, according to the Cellular Communications and Internet Association. That's up from 208 million or 69 percent of the population at the end of 2005.

Even the park district's provider agrees it's been challenging, and many entities are removing pay phones.

"We're finding that across the board with our village and park districts," said Andy Majernik, president of Innovative Services. "Everyone is trying to save money and cut costs. While the pay phone is not a lot in a budget, every little bit helps."

The company is focusing on high-traffic areas, such as gas stations or convenience stores as well as villages, schools, park districts and churches, and also is getting new business by offering better deals than other vendors.

Some pay phone service companies have expanded to include other activities, such as vending or air and vacuum machines, Majernik explained. But the core business goes on.

"It hasn't changed our focus to provide pay phone services," he said. "We're still doing it and have plans to do it for a long time."