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player ready...The vacant post of New Lenox Park District director will be filled by the man who took over the job on an interim basis.
In a rare unanimous vote, the park board on Tuesday hired Greg Lewis to succeed longtime director Bill McCollum, who resigned earlier this year.
“I’ve been the troubleshooter for the district for quite a while,” said Lewis, who began his Park District career 11 years ago as a recreation supervisor.
He then became supervisor of recreation and maintenance, deputy director and business manager for The Sanctuary Golf Course.
Park commissioners hired Lewis after taking part in an Illinois Association of Park Districts search for qualified candidates.
The association narrowed a field of 50 to seven candidates, and the park board interviewed the top four.
Lewis said the search was good for the park board and for him. “The IAPD affirmed me and the board,” he said.
His first goals will be filling key staff positions and drawing up a game plan for the future. “I want to see us walk before we run,” he said. “We have to maintain what we’ve got.”
But building a recreation center so that the district’s growing population has access to popular activities, such as youth basketball, is important, he said. “We need to provide facilities to keep (participation) happening,” Lewis said.
Lewis, 35, grew up in Peotone and attended Illinois State University, where he majored in fitness leadership and management and minored in parks and recreation. He lives in Manhattan Township.