Naperville gardeners concerned about downtown plots
Dozens of Naperville gardeners flocked to Naperville Unit District 203 public forum Wednesday to express their concerns about a proposal to move some of the garden plots near Naperville Central High School to the city's south side.
The school and park districts held the first of three community forums to address Naperville Central High School's shortage of athletic fields. Relocating West Street garden plots is one of four options the districts are considering.
However, gardeners said they are worried about soil quality, travel time, safety and cost to taxpayers if the plan is approved.
Park district Executive Director Ray McGury said no decision has been made yet and his staff will recommend the plan that best serves the community but there will be change no matter which option is chosen.
The problem stems from Naperville Central having a 35-acre campus, which Superintendent Alan Leis said is much smaller than new schools that are typically built on 60 to 100 acres. It will also be losing some of its field space to the Naperville Cemetery next year and could be needing even more fields if lacrosse becomes an Illinois High School Association sport as expected.
The district will be putting synthetic turf on the football field next year but Leis said it isn't enough to solve the problem entirely.
One option is to relocate some of the city's garden plots to the south side of town, likely to either the DuPage River Park or Southwest Community Park. There would be a net increase of about 100 garden plots overall. This is the only option that has cost estimates so far - about $500,000 for the school district to develop the fields and $250,000 for the park district to create infrastructure for the new garden plots. The new plots would be developed so that no gardening seasons are lost.
The other three options are to move athletic teams to a third field at Knoch Park used by youth football leagues, move Central teams to another District 203 or park district site or create athletic fields at DuPage River Park or Nike Park.
Tom O'Hale urged the districts not to forget about the "tradition and culture and community" of the garden plots.
Eugene Parker said the school district should bear all of the costs because the fields are for Central. Others said it would be inconvenient for gardeners to travel to the south side of town.
Leis responded the fields would be available for other youth athletic programs in the community, as well, and that having two locations might actually lessen travel time for some.
Roughly 55 percent of garden plot users live north of 75th Street, 37 percent live south of 75th Street and 8 percent are not Naperville residents.
Joanne O'Toole whose senior son plays football for Central was one of the only residents in the audience to speak on behalf of athletes Wednesday and said busing is not in students' best interest.
"For the students at Central to go to Nike Park or DuPage River Park is way too far for any kid leaving after school," she said. "They won't be home until 7:30 at night."
There will be additional forums at 7 p.m., Nov. 10, at the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Community Center, 305 W. Jackson Ave., and Nov. 12 at the District 203 administrative center, 203 W. Hillside Road.
Anyone who is unable to attend can e-mail comments to athleticfields@naperville203.org.
A recommendation could go to the school board as early as December, then to the park board. If the plan involves the garden plots it will also need city council approval.