Recently approved improvements to the pool and beach in Lake Bluff were six years in the making.
On July 6, the Park District Board of Commissioners awarded bids for $891,500 to 12 contractors. Those contractors will install a new lining in Blair Park Pool, repair the wading pool that has been closed since 2009, replace the stairs to Sunset Beach and upgrade the nearby bathrooms along with other improvements.
“Both projects are very exciting,” said Ron Salski, executive director of the park district. “The beach is … valued by the entire community. The pool is an opportunity for people to meet neighbors and friends.”
The money for the projects comes from a $3.1 million referendum approved in November 2014.
That 2014 referendum evolved from an unsuccessful referendum the Park District held in 2010 for almost $10 million. Lake Bluff voters turned that one down by a no vote of roughly 60 percent. The 2010 referendum would have fixed the wading pool, built a brand new pool and completed other capital projects, according to Salski.
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Robert Douglass, president of the Park Board of Commissioners, also recalled the effort.
“It was for a new aquatic facility,” he said.
Following the failure of the 2010 referendum, the Board of Commissioners formed a citizen task force that examined what facilities would need to be upgraded or replaced over 20 years.
The board then formed a second citizen task force to focus on what was needed at Blair Park Pool and Sunset Beach.
“Through that analysis, we were able to more clearly focus on our needs rather than our wants,” Douglass said.
In 2014, the board went back to the voters with a $3.1 million referendum. The 2014 referendum was approved by 72 percent of voters.
“The referendum that passed last fall was successful because we had the community vested in the process and we were able to be very specific on what our needs were,” Douglass said.
The pool will close on Aug. 15 and be completed by May 2016, Salski said. Work on the beach stairs and bathrooms is scheduled to start right after Labor Day and wrap up by November.
The Park District is in the process of collecting bids for replacing the roof and HVAC at the recreation center. It also plans to upgrade playgrounds starting in late 2016.