Park District officials are mulling an offer by the village to buy park-owned land in a proposed town center.
“It looks pretty positive,” said Park Board President Tom Lewis.
The village’s offer was discussed in an executive session Tuesday, Lewis said.
Mayor Mike Smith said the sale of 4.5 acres in the New Lenox Commons area south of U.S. Highway 30 and north of the Village Hall on Haven Avenue would provide the Park District with some badly needed cash and would avert the delay of infrastructure work slated to begin in the spring.
The Village Board, Park Board and Library Board all bought land in the New Lenox Commons with a view to creating a town center with a library, a recreation center, green space, a gazebo and eventually a new Village Hall.
The three agencies had planned to share the cost of roads, street lighting and utility extensions, but the defeat last year of a referendum proposal to finance a recreation center left the Park District short of funds to pay its share.
Much of the development work has to be done this year in preparation for the construction of a new library building.
Smith said an ordinance with the village’s offer will be prepared when the two boards reach an agreement.
The offer gives the Park District the right to buy back the land if finances permit.
Park officials are still considering building a recreation center on the Commons land and plan to ask voters in November for financial support.
The current version of the recreation center plan calls for a smaller, less expensive building than the original proposal, said Park Board Vice President Robert McKenna.
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In a related matter, park commissioners approved a design contract for a smaller center with Legat Architects for $17,800.
“We need to get them on board, so we can start working on a November referendum,” McKenna said.