Expansion has been part of the plan for Eiche Turners Club since its inception, and now the time may be right for growth.
The club hopes to construct a $1.2 million gymnasium adjacent to its building at 16737 S. 80th Ave., assuming the project is approved by members and village officials. The project already has been presented to the Plan Commission.
“The whole thought when we moved (to Tinley Park) is that we would have our own type of gym,” said Richard Schnell, who is on the club’s membership committee.
The group moved from Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood in 1983 and is part of the national Turners organization, formed 150 years ago by German immigrants to promote sports activities.
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The Eiche Turners Club, which has about 200 members, is 108 years old and takes its name from a German word that translates into “hard like an oak.”
Operating with the motto “sound mind and sound body,” the group has about 400 children ages 2 through 15 in its tumbling program, some of whom recently won awards at a national meet.
An outdoor volleyball program begins later this month. The Eiche Turners also sponsor a camera club and present speakers, one of whom will focus on CPR training.
The popularity of its programs mean a need for expansion, Schnell said, adding some children’s activities have a waiting list. The proposed gym would be about 19,000-square feet and would house gymnastics, basketball, volleyball and tumbling. Tumblers now meet in the basement of the present facility, which has a club room available for parties on the main floor.
Should the proposal be approved, the group could begin construction in the spring, Schnell said, noting money for the project would be raised through donations and fundraisers.