Aspiring ballerinas, Baryshnikovs and ballroom Foxtrotters may soon be crossed off the wait list for an open spot in Naperville Park District dance classes.
The Naperville Park District this week approved a major renovation for the Central High School Community Room where many dance sessions are held. In addition, park officials are working on an agreement to share the use of a recreation room in the new Xilin Association building.
Executive Director Ray McGury said, even though the Park District has 21 different dance classes that are offered on 46 separate times and days of the week, there is a waiting list for classes. Park district officials said 194 people have been on the wait list in 4 years.
“Dance is very popular in our community and it’s a great problem to have,” McGury said. “But we want to make sure we try to get everybody off that wait list. The Community Room at Central is in dire need of upgrade, and the renovation will address those needs.”
Park commissioners voted 6-1 Thursday in favor of spending $75,728 for low bidder Integral Construction, of Country Club Hills, to remove the existing wood floor, replace the wall mirrors, install new lighting and complete other painting, electrical and acoustical work.
Officials said a new wood floor would be installed under a separate contract at a cost of under $25,000.
McGury said the Park District has for many years operated under intergovernmental agreements with Naperville District 203 and Indian Prairie 204 to use their school facilities for some programs.
“The Community Room at Central High School actually was built specifically for the Park District back in the early 1990s when they also built their auditorium,” Director of Recreation Brad Wilson said. “From the beginning, we always have been the primary user of this room.”
Wilson admitted that some students and instructors have been reluctant to use the Community Room because the wood floor is worn out from decades of use.
“We’re going to install a ‘sprung’ floor that’s very similar to the ones that we have in our other facilities,” he said. “It’s much like a wood floor gymnasium but built up on rubber padding and a lot more forgiving to impacts when you jump up and down on it. With this renovation, dancers are going to want to have their classes there.”
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Wilson said the Park District also is in discussions to use a recreation room at the new location of Naperville’s Xilin Association.
“There’s no time frame yet as to when they’re going to be finished with the build-out of their new space, but what we would like to do is pay for the installation of a sprung floor, wall mirrors and a sound system. Once that’s all done, we can look forward to dance classes being held there on evenings and weekends.”
In addition, the Park District would pay a “very reasonable” annual lease rate to use the space, Wilson said.
Officials hope at least an agreement between the two entities could be settled this year.
Some of the Park District dance classes currently include ballroom, hip-hop, jazz, modern, TumbleDance, Bollywood and seven levels of ballet.
“Our dance programs are very popular,” Wilson said. “We’ve seen some tremendous growth and there are many participants who are wait listed and cannot get into a program because we don’t have enough space. What we’ve been working to do is to identify dance space in the community and make some new partnerships.”
Gary Gibula is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.