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Carol Stream still debating rec center signs

Carol Stream Park District will have a 13-foot, 8-inch welcome sign in front of its new recreation center when it opens this summer, but the fate of other signs at the site is still up in the air.

The village board approved a variance this week allowing the park district to construct its new sign with LED message panels at 910 N. Gary Ave. But trustees delayed a decision to allow the district to pin mount the words “Fountain View Recreation Center” to each side of the existing “Ross Ferraro Town Center Carol Stream” sign at the corner of Lies Road and Fountain View Drive.

The district wants two 18.7-square-foot placards containing the name of the recreation center to be attached to the current sign to inform motorists the building can be accessed by turning from Lies Road. There are no plans to modify an identical village Town Center sign on Gary.

But village trustees Rick Gieser and Matt McCarthy said they favor placing individual letters on the existing sign as opposed to attaching acrylic placards.

“An acrylic board with letters would look like an afterthought, and I think it would do a disservice to the village and park district,” McCarthy said.

Trustee Greg Schwarze said he favors putting letters on the village-owned sign, “as long as we agree how it looks.”

Trustee Don Weiss also opposed the acrylic panels and said he wants to discuss the issue further after an agreement is drawn up between the village and park district.

Village Manager Joe Breinig said the two governmental entities would put together such an agreement in which the park district’s contractor will indemnify the village in case part of the existing stone sign is damaged.

“All it takes is hitting a flaw in one of the stones and you can crack it,” Breinig said.

Park district Executive Director Arnie Biondo said the acrylic signs were just suggestions, but now officials will solicit new designs from Williams Architects and bring back plans for the village board’s consideration.

The park district had sought to share the estimated $420,000 cost to alter the two existing village signs on site that would have removed a portion of the signs and inserted LED electronic message panels on the stone base. But several village trustees expressed reservations with the cost and opted to withdraw from a potential arrangement.

The park district’s new $18 million, 90,846-square-foot rec center is scheduled for a soft opening in early August and a grand opening Sept. 7.

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