Longtime Niles Park District executive director Joe LoVerde is slated to retire in early September but will continue to oversee millions of dollars worth of ongoing capital projects as a consultant for the district.
LoVerde, who also serves as a trustee for the village of Niles, was hired by the district’s board of commissioners to helm the agency in 1997.
Sept. 6 will mark LoVerde’s last day on the job, he said. He said he initially wanted to retire June 30 but stayed on to oversee the hiring of a new finance director for the park district. Tom Elenz, the district’s current finance director, will take over LoVerde’s position as executive director of the district following his retirement.
“I’ve reached 68-years-old and I’m ready to give the reins up,” LoVerde said, referring to his upcoming retirement.
LoVerde will be retained by the district as a consultant to oversee the construction of an $11 million new athletic facility on Caldwell Avenue and a $1.5 million renovation of the Tam Golf Course. He’ll receive $6,500 per month from the district and will be expected to work 20 hours per week in his role as consultant, wrote Elenz in an email. He wrote that the retired director will be reimbursed only for “direct job related expenses with proper receipts and only after approval.”
LoVerde’s base salary for 2015 was $168,000 and he will collect a pension from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund once he leaves his post, according to Elenz.
“Mr. LoVerde’s construction experience has saved the Niles Park District tremendous amounts of money over his 20 years as director. The industry standard for a construction manager to oversee $12.5 million worth of construction would be anywhere from 4 percent to 6 percent of the construction cost. Mr. LoVerde will be paid $78,000 annually until these projects are complete,” Elenz wrote. He added that the district’s “best interest will be protected at a very reasonable cost” with LoVerde overseeing the two projects. Both projects are expected to be completed within three years, Elenz wrote.
“I’m very confident in my role in making decisions in the best interest of the park district and taxpayer. I think we’ve proven over time it’s worked,” LoVerde said.
With the golf course renovation and new athletic facility taken into account, LoVerde estimates he’s overseen approximately $30 million worth of capital improvements over the course of his tenure as director of the district.
The consulting work “gives me an opportunity to stay busy and not get in a rocking chair and stare out the window. It’s something I love to do and I’d love to end my career by delivering another building (to the district),” he said.
LoVerde said his initial appointment as executive director of the district, which he claims was “insolvent” when he took over the post, raised some eyebrows in the community because of his lack of education or experience in parks and recreation. LoVerde had spent the prior three decades working for his family’s Niles-based construction business.
More Top Picks Best Smart Speakers For Seniors
The commissioners at the time “asked me to look at the park district and see where we could make it successful. They said it’s a business and why don’t you submit a resume, look around and find out what it needs. So that’s what I did,” he said.
While LoVerde had experience in construction and could handle the necessary capital improvements, he said he hired experts in other areas of parks and recreation to ensure the district would thrive under his leadership.
“You take all these people and you don’t micromanage them. If they are good, caring people, you’ll succeed. If they’re good employees you’ll succeed,” he said. “You have to build a team and respect them and treat them right. I think that formula worked.”
LoVerde said it’s “rewarding” to retire knowing that his employees, past and present, have done “an outstanding job.”
“There’s a time when you feel it’s right to turn the reins over,” he said
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.