‘A little bit of flexibility’: Wheeling Park District to borrow up to $12 million to help fund new water park

The Wheeling Park District will borrow up to $12 million to help fund construction of a new aquatic center on the site of its now-demolished old one.

The parks board on Tuesday voted to issue bonds for the Community Boulevard project. The sum the district will borrow hasn’t been determined, Executive Director Jan Buchs said.

“We may not fully borrow that money,” Buchs said. “It gives us a little bit of flexibility.”

The entire project is expected to cost $32 million.

Officials long have said the effort would be funded with cash reserves and that it wouldn’t affect property tax rates. That hasn’t changed, Buchs said.

The district will borrow some of the money to avoid depleting its capital reserves on this one undertaking, Buchs said.

A $500,000 state grant also will go toward the project, and cash from a municipal property tax account reserved for improvements along the Dundee Road corridor will be requested, officials said.

Demolition of the 33-year-old Family Aquatic Center began last month. All the structures and water features have been removed. Crews now are grinding large mounds of concrete to reuse at the new facility, Buchs said.

“It’s a dusty mess,” she said.

A 16,500-square-foot swimming pool, a smaller pool just for adults, a play structure, two body slides and a drop slide are among the planned amenities. A bath house, a concession area, party shelters and a space for cabanas are in the works, too.

Construction should be completed by spring or summer 2027.