One good thing you can say about the Naperville Park District--it's actively promoting public participation in plans to overhaul the venerable Centennial Beach. (Now, if only it could keep an executive director around, but that's another story.)
Architects want to know what you think, and park staff will conduct guided tours Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and from 6 to 7 p.m. The changing rooms and main park building need mechanical upgrades, but the historic integrity of the 1931 building must be preserved, park officials say.
The district will also accept comments about the project via phone calls, e-mail and snail mail.
What improvements would you like to see made to Centennial Beach? What do you think of the park district's approach to the project?
Are these renovations going to be anything like the two small water features added to the paved area near the sand a few years ago which I have never seen work properly? Great.
T.B.
Please, please do your homework before writing about Centennial Beach. The work to convert one of the quarries to a swimming pool was started early in 1932, not in 1931. It was not done by the WPA which did not exist at the time. To the great credit to the citizens of Naperville, several make-work projects to provide employment for people who did not have jobs during the depression were initiated by the city. Centennial Beach was one of them. The Main Street Bridge was another. The contractor who supervised the construction of the swimming pool in 1932 and Main Steet Bridge was Paul Brock. He was also responsible for hiring men who lived within the city limits to work on both projects. The bathhouse was not completed until two years later. In 2004, the staircases were not rebuilt. They remain as they were constructed by Paul Brock of quarry stone. The concrete steps were replaced after 70 years of use.
Let me get this straight - it will take TWO years to complete the bathhouse, yet just in a few weeks, the city FINISHED the berms in the middle of the busy streets for beautification? UUHHMM!! Whose pocket are we lining? This is disgusting.
I would like to see Centennial Beach come up with a section that is safer for small children. Other public pools have sectioned-off areas specifically for infants, toddlers, and other young children. The few water features located right at the base of the pool only keep the children's interest for a short period of time. As a mother of a toddler and with another baby on the way, I would like to see a baby pool area added. While I did purchase a season pass for this year, I most likely will not do the same in the future unless there is a more baby-friendly area. My toddler loses interest in the pool far too quickly, especially since she cannot roam the water at all without me either holding her or being right on top of her every move. Because she has a need for some independence right now (not that I would leave her alone by any means), it would be nice to have a baby-friendly area where she can play with more moderate supervision rather than having me hold her the entire time.
Michelle, why not let a nanny supervise the kids at home so you can have your "me" time? You must be nine kinds of stupid if you don't know that "more moderate supervision" of a toddler near water might equal disaster. Perhaps a kiddie pool in your backyard might be what you're looking for. When your children are older, you can return to the Beach, and enjoy yourself sunning, reading, visiting, etc., without having to be a mother, and heaven forbid, holding on to your own children "the entire time" when they need you to the most.