The Naperville School District 203 community spoke up in February when it approved a tax-increase referendum to pay for a $115 million facilities-improvement plan. Part of that project is an $11 million early childhood center to be built in the Huntington Estates subdivision off Naper Boulevard.
Architectural plans and computer-generated designs were unveiled Monday night. Groundbreaking is scheduled for April, with completion in 2010.
Also Monday, the district heard updated plans for the $5.2 million renovation of the Naperville North swimming pool.
What do you think of the proposals? Are plans progressing the way you expected? How well do you think the early childhood center blends in with the neighborhood? What do you think of the pool plan?
They should build this thing right across the street from Higgins aka Gladys Kravitz.
Remodel an indoor pool for $5.2 million. That is insane.
You can buy 5 McMansions for that price and have 200k to pay the real estate tax on those McMansions for 2 full years.
You could buy a 30,000 square foot shopping center with that kind of money and make a half a million or more in rental income.
We need to be wiser in how we spend our money.
How about getting a few more bids to see if it can be done for under a million! Let us try to be frugal for once and not give away taxpayer money just because we have it! Please!
The pool at NN needs the renovation. It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest, pool in the western suburbs. It serves no purpose now that the swim teams are banned from diving in the pool due to USS swim regulations for safety reasons. North can't even hold their home meets there for that reason.
Whether the depth is an issue or not, have you ever been inside the pool area. The deck floor is disgusting and needs to be replaced. Lord only knows what bacteria/mold is harboring in it after all these years. It's an embarassment to the community to have a facility that is in the condition it is.
Let's not be penny wise and dollar foolish. And I'm guessing that you have never had much done around your home if you think a job that is requiring $5M can be done for less than $1M.
And it shouldn't be a shocker to anyone that bids that were quoted out a year ago are now coming in higher. If it is, you haven't been reading the papers or bought gas or groceries in the past 6 months.
I opposed the referendum, but I have to admit that 203 is doing an excellent job with this facilities plan so far. I appreciate that they are keeping the community informed about the developments.
It is a smart move for them to postpone the tax hike for a year. The early childhood center plans so far look excellent. The architects have done a good job blending the facility into the surrounding area.
Right now the pool at North is a disaster. I don't know why it took so long to get these repairs done.
I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing the plans for the re-build at Central. The preliminary plans looked interesting and the architects really have a challenge on their hands. I still feel the school should have been torn down and completely rebuilt.
Mike, you opposed the referendum, however, you say "I still feel the school should have been torn down and completely rebuilt." You also say "Right now the pool at North is a disaster. I don't know why it took so long to get these repairs done." How can you oppose the referendum but agree all the work needs to be done and should have happened a long time ago.
Just curious.
I'll remember to fight harder the next time a referendum is proposed by this school district. I need my money for food and gasoline not for a swimming pool. I understand my duty to contribute for educating children but not for any frills. You want to swim or take fluff courses, let the users pay.