Naperville Park District to hire consultants to help plan future indoor rec space, possible pool

Naperville Park District is hoping to chart a path forward on new indoor recreation space, including the possiblity of a new pool, with the help of a pair of consultants.
Later this month, district staff will bring two professional services contracts to the Naperville Park Board for approval. The contracts are the next step in an ongoing effort to determine how the district should manage its indoor recreation needs in years to come and if a referendum will be needed to fund new or expanded space.
District Executive Director Brad Wilson gave an overview of the focus and scope of the proposed contracts at last week's park board meeting. They are expected to go to the board at its May 22 meeting, Wilson said.
Last fall, the district completed an assessment of its indoor recreational needs. Months in the making, the review was a product of interviews with stakeholders, focus groups, open house events and surveys. The resulting 266-page report offered a range of takeaways, from the demand for more aquatic facilities to the need for more enhanced seniors programs for seniors.
The contract proposals 'really come off' that assessment, Wilson said.
Under one of them, Itasca-based Williams Architects would be hired to assist the district in site and facility conceptual design and public engagement, he said.
'We've certainly gathered a lot of public input and feedback from the community as part of that indoor recreation needs assessment on the types of spaces that the community would like to see and feel is needed,' he said. 'Now, it's taking those elements and beginning to look at various sites.
'Where a building might be able to be located as well as what type of elements could be included in there and really the size of those to help with then determining what it might look like as well as what the cost estimate would be.'
The other contract would have Beyond Your Base, a public affairs and pre-referendum consulting group, help the park board decide whether to seek voter approval through a referendum to help pay for new indoor rec space, Wilson said.
As part of the district's recently completed needs assessment, residents were surveyed on their willingness to kick in their own tax dollars towards a new multipurpose activity center.
Residents were surveyed on three bond issue scenarios: one that would fund a facility similar to the Fort Hill Activity Center with the addition of an indoor pool; a second calling for a center like Fort Hill with no pool; and a third under which a similar center would be built and include synthetic turf.
All three would add anywhere from $60 to $85 to the park district's property tax bill annually for 20 years for a taxpayer with a home valued at $440,000, according to district estimates.
In both statistical and public survey results, respondents indicated the highest willingness to pay for a center with a pool.
Surveys also sought input on where residents would want new indoor recreation space to be built. South Naperville drew the highest level of support.
Beyond Your Base, with offices in Colorado and Illinois, 'develops and implements comprehensive public engagement programs that incorporate voter analytics, public opinion research and strategic communications,' its website says. The consulting group recently assisted Indian Prairie School District 204 with its public engagement for a bond referendum that voters approved last fall, according to Wilson.
Over the past couple of months, the district has started to work with both Beyond Your Base and Williams Architects on some initial steps 'to really begin taking a look at this a little bit further,' Wilson said.
Each company has been paid $18,000 for the preliminary work, he said. If the new contracts are approved, Williams Architects would be receive $62,000 and Beyond Your Base would get $67,000.
Should the board approve both agreements, 'later in the summer and in early fall, we would (expect to) have additional updates to … provide,' Wilson said.

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