Batavia Park District voters reject $27.1 million recreation center proposal

Batavia Park District voters on Tuesday rejected borrowing $27.1 million to build a 65,000-square-foot activity and recreation center in the Fox Valley Business Park near Route 25.

With all precincts reporting, the unofficial vote total was 5,128 or 61.7%, to 3,043, or 36.6%, against the rec center plan.

The center would have included an eight-lane pool, a running track, combination indoor turf area and multi-activity court gym, and multipurpose rooms. Park officials say the design was based on feedback from the community in what they describe as a "program-rich but facility-poor district.​

Approval of the referendum question would have boosted property taxes. The owners of a $300,000 house who currently pay $556 to the district would have seen their annual property tax bill increase by $178 for 20 years.

Supporters said the rec center plan was designed for use by all ages and would have been located at the intersection of Belleview Lane and Oswalt Avenue, close to Clark Island Recreation Area and Red Oak Nature Center, the Fox River Trail and the Illinois Prairie Path.

"People expressed an interest for a place where they could go from outside to inside seamlessly," Executive Director Allison Niemela said.

Daily Herald writer Robert Smith contributed to this story.