One thing the Naperville Park District is good at is flying under the radar, politically speaking. Here we are in the midst of a search for a new executive director, plus this week the park board is expected to terminate construction management, architectural and engineering services contracts for the proposed $35 million Frontier Sports Complex Recreation Center, effectively killing that project, for now. Will the rec center ever be built?
The rec center, you'll recall, is something that residents said they didn't want to pay for, yet park officials decided they had a better idea of what was best for the community and went ahead and pursued it anyway. Now after untold sums spent on planning the facility, so much time has elapsed that the drawings apparently are worthless and it's back to square one.
What are we to make of this "dysfunctional" situation? Are you disappointed the rec center is dead, for now? Are you satisfied that the park district finally got the message and is doing the right thing? Are you upset that so much money was spent, for nothing?
Personally, I am glad it's on hold for the moment so everyone can step back and re-evaluate the needs and desires of the community as a whole. If it ever moves forward again after, the money is not ill spent. If it dies forever, then it's better to die with that smaller money spent then to die after building it and not being able to afford to operate it.
Dear Joe,
Well said.
Let me guess..you two live north of 75th street. If you lived south of 75th street you might have a different opinion.
I don't see this as a North or South issue as much as whether or not the Park District can or should spend millions of dollars without voter approval. How can they rationalize spending this money after the last referendum on the issue failed?
Thank goodness, this was a ridiculous and wasteful project from the start. The Park District is out of control with too many programs and far exceeding their mission.
They need to get back to basics and show some fisal responsibility. How about paying down some of the debt instead of just piling on more?
While my kids have enjoyed a number of park district programs through the years, I was relieved to see that the rec center idea has been put on hold. I agree with both Joe and Sandra. If it comes up again and there is voter desire, then it will be built. But for now, the park district should concentrate on what it currently offers instead of trying to be bigger and not necessarily better.
Postponing the Frontier Sports Complex is good, shelving it is better, and canceling it all together is BEST. I am in favor of supporting a Park District, like the one already in place, which provides open space for children’s activities and programs for the elderly. Nothing more is required.
As a parent I appreciate having access to baseball fields in the summer and gymnasiums in the winter to facilitate “parent” run and organized athletic activities. I never expected nor thought I deserved the “community” to also provide for the entertainment of “my” child: I believe that that would be MY responsibility, not my NEIGHBORS.
The “community” should I think participate in providing for activities geared to the elderly, those that attempt to exist on a fixed budget and have limited access to transportation. Given the wastefulness of government, $5 million for a tower with bells in it for Pete’s sake, our elderly need all the help we can provide.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." –Edmund Burke
I think a case could be made that more indoor recreation space is needed in Naperville. The problem was that the board did not want to take that case before the voters. Instead they wanted to use up ALL of their discretionary spending authority for the next gazillion years to shove this Taj Mahal of a fitness center down our throats. And in the meantime, the benches outside the Central Park bandshell would continue to go without a desperately-need coat of paint.