Recently in Park District Category

Denver's deputy manager of recreation and facility services has accepted the position as executive director of the Naperville Park District, the Rocky Mountain News reported. Daniel Betts started working for Colorado's capital city four years ago and his resignation is effective March 4, the newspaper reported.

In Friday's (2.1) Sun, editor/publisher Jim Lynch wrote a pretty stinging column where he basically called the Naperville Park Board "dysfunctional." Is the park board just a rudderless ship? Where is the leadership and is this the kind of board Naperville wants? Tell us what you think.

The talk of the town in late 2007 was an ambitious plan to rethink land uses for more than 200 acres smack dab in the middle of One of the Most Desirable Places to Live on Earth. It was bounced around like a political hot potato between Naperville School District 203, the Park District and City Council before being unceremoniously dropped. What happened?

Time's up: A year has passed since the Naperville City Council imposed a one-year no-build restriction on 6 acres near Plainfield-Naperville Road and West Street, between two bodies of water owned by the Naperville Park District. Unless the City Council takes further action, a developer could move forward with plans to build homes on the land. What should happen with the Ponds of Hobson West?

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 Naperville Park District board says its may decide the next executive director by Dec. 16. What does that person need to know about taking charge of Naperville's parks and recreation programs?

If you've got something to say about the proposals to reshape the Martin Mitchell property in the heart of Naperville, now's the time to do it. Because one certainty has emerged from all the possible scenarios: Nothing's going to happen unless voters in Naperville School District 203 approve a referendum.

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir mens' blood." -- Daniel Burnham

Whether you agree with it or not, you've got to admire the scale of the latest plan to rehape 200 acres in the heart of Naperville known as the Martin-Mitchell property.

Let's just throw this one out there. Seems like a no-brainer, yet inexplicably the previous park director never moved to Naperville...

The Naperville Park District is cancelling this year's Doggie Dip at Centennial Beach, saying state health officials threatened to revoke its swimming permit for next year if it didn't pull the plug on the pooch plunge. Is this a case of erring on the side of safety, or bureacracy run amok?