Naperville scales back size of proposed activity center
Naperville Park District's future indoor activity center will be smaller than anticipated, but it still will have all the amenities residents identified as important during focus groups earlier this year.
Executive Director Ray McGury said new estimates the project's construction manager and architect developed put the building in the ballpark of 70,000 square feet to 75,000 square feet, instead of the originally estimated 80,000-square-foot structure.
McGury said the building's footprint has been scaled down to avoid going over the $23 million budget, which includes $2 million spent last November to buy five acres for the center at the southeast corner of Quincy Avenue and Fort Hill Drive.
“It's unfortunate” the building will be smaller than anticipated, McGury said, “but we're not going over budget on this.”
Major amenities planned for the activity center include basketball and volleyball courts, a walking track, a fitness center, a gymnastics room, dance studios, a cafe, a child-care center with an indoor playground, offices and multipurpose rooms. The center is designed to provide space for children and adults with special needs as well as senior citizens to be physically and socially active.
Park district officials have said the need for more indoor recreation space has been identified in results from three community surveys conducted in the past nine years.
“When we cut the ribbon on this in 2016, it's going to be more than we have now,” McGury said. “I think the community will be overwhelmed that we're going to be able to bring this online and under budget.”
McGury said the project's architect and construction manager — Williams Architects of Itasca and Wight Construction Inc. — should have a good idea of what the activity center will look like within the next month. The park district then can finalize designs in advance of a groundbreaking anticipated to occur next spring.