Proposal to build Batavia rec center, police station on same site advances

A proposal to build a recreation center and a police station on the same site in Batavia has advanced to the point that there are two rough concept plans on how both would fit on 20 acres of land being donated to the Batavia Park District.

The park district presented the concept plans to several aldermen and city officials at a special park board meeting July 21.

Both plans presented include an 80,000-square-foot recreation center with an indoor swimming pool. There would also be 10 tennis courts and two multipurpose fields.

Batavia Unit District 101 is interested in using the tennis courts because it is thinking of removing tennis courts at Batavia High School to make way for a parking lot, according to Alison Niemela, the park district’s executive director. The high school’s swimming teams could use the pool instead of renting pools outside the city, she said.

The police station would use about 5 acres of the site.

“I look at this, and I say ‘what a community asset this would be,’” Batavia Alderman Tony Malay said.

The meeting was a follow-up to one held in April, where both sides expressed interest in sharing the site, provided it was large enough to accommodate both uses.

A 2012 annexation agreement calls for Moose International to give 20 acres of land to the park district in 2031. Back then, the Moose proposed transforming 470 acres of farmland into a development with stores, offices, a hotel, a movie theater and housing.

None of that has come to fruition.

The park district has tried twice to get public approval to borrow money to build a recreation center with a pool. Voters refused, in referendums in 2010 and 2020.

The park district is asking Moose for early access to the land. Park officials said the next step is to meet formally with Moose officials and with the District 101 school board.

City officials contend the current police station is too small and doesn’t comply with current building codes regarding exits, fire suppression and building systems. It shares the building, a former factory that is more than 120 years old, with city offices.

They began planning for a new station about two years ago, and estimate it will cost about $50 million.

The city council increased the local sales tax on general merchandise in December to begin collecting roughly $2.8 million a year to pay for the station. It also anticipates borrowing money for the project.