Politics & Government

Woodridge Park District Weighs Two Locations for Athletic Recreation Center

Orchard Hill Park, Janes Avenue TIF lot both being considered for construction project.

Two Janes Avenue locations are currently being considered for the future site of the athletic recreation center. 

The center, as currently proposed, would offer courts, turf fields, batting cages, fitness and strength rooms, multi-purpose and computer rooms, an elevated track, a café and aerobic fitness rooms. 

It would house the park district’s summer camp, and Kidz Squad programs as well as offer space for traveling teams and other groups to rent turf and court space.

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Pending park district board approval, construction could begin in 2014 and the center could be completed in 2015. Read more about the center here.

The first site in discussion is a portion of , the park adjacent to . It includes three baseball and softball fields and for soccer fields. The recreation center would be built west of a current park district maintenance facility. Two soccer fields would be lost to construction of the facility.

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The second location is a four-acre space in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of 83rd Street and Janes Avenue and includes the shopping center that houses and other businesses. Doing so would require approval by the Woodridge village board.

The lot is located in one of Woodridge’s tax increment financing, or TIF, district. In a TIF district, tax money generated by the area can be used for development and improvements to the area.

Acquiring the TIF land is more expensive than acquiring the Orchard Hill land -- it will cost the park district $3.2 million for land and sitework at the TIF site versus $800,000 at Orchard Hill. 

But to encourage development, the village projects there will be $3.2 million in land and site subsidies and a $1.8 million TIF building subsidy available for building at the TIF site. These numbers are an estimate and are not final. 

That puts the projected grand total construction costs per site at $13,133,983 for the TIF site and $15,702,483 for the Orchard Hill site. The construction project would be paid for with park district debt service that is set to expire in 2014 and 2015. No referendum will be required. 

The Orchard Hill number does not include the cost of replacing the two soccer fields lost to construction of the athletic recreation center.

Joe Kubal was the only board member to indicate a preference in sites at a special board meeting held Saturday to discuss a feasibility study for the project.

Kubal pushed for including the loss of the two fields in the projected cost estimate for the Orchard Hill site and reasoned building the athletic recreation center at the TIF site would save the money and hassle in finding more open space for outdoor soccer fields. 

The park district may also be eligible for a $2.5 million state grant for the project. While the timeline for the center’s development takes into consideration the application process for the grant, there’s no guarantee the park district will see the money from the state.

Whether the picks Orchard Hill Park or an empty space near Janes Avenue and 83rd Street as the location for its athletic recreation center, the new facility will create a “corridor of activity,” according to Mike Adams, executive director. 

The athletic recreation center will have both  and and Skate Park in close proximity. 


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