The Dundee Township Park Board voted Wednesday to permanently close Sleepy Hollow swimming pool and to appoint a citizens advisory board to decide whether a new pool should be built and if there’s bond referendum support to fund it.
After more than 60 years of use by multiple generations of families, the pool has reached the end of its life expectancy and is too expensive to repair, park district officials said. The pool lost 3.8 million gallons of water this past season due to leaks.
What happens next will be determined by the advisory committee, which will evaluate the options, recommend whether a new pool or aquatic center should be built and, if yes, what features it should include, according to board action.
They also will collect feedback from the community on whether a bond referendum to pay for the project would be supported.
“The bottom line is that this pool is beyond repair,” township park district Executive Director Dave Peterson said at the meeting. “Our recommendation is to close the Sleepy Hollow pool.”
Residents in attendance said they understood the need to close it, although it will be an emotional loss for many.
More Top Picks Best Non Wifi Baby Monitors For Privacy Conscious Parents
“I get it; that pool is beyond repair. It does need to be, for safety concerns, closed,” said Kelly Thomas, a Sleepy Hollow Village Board trustee who stressed she was speaking as a resident only. “But I think we should look at different options.”
One option would be to rebuild the pool at the same site and rename it so it’s clear to district residents that it’s for all to use, not just those who live in Sleepy Hollow, Thomas said. Building a splash pad in its place would not be the same, she said, because older children and teens won’t use it.
The process to recruit members for a citizens advisory board will begin in November, said Ross Bertone, the district’s deputy director.
A citizen financial workshop on the district’s finances will be held in January before the board votes to officially create the advisory board, Bertone said.
In March and April, a community survey will be conducted in which residents will be asked to weigh in on such things as where a new pool or aquatic center should be located, what features it should have and if a tax increase to pay for funding bonds is supported, he said.
The results would be released in June at an informational meeting, Bertone said.
Park Board President Frank Scarpelli stressed that he doesn’t want residents to think the board or staff have a preference or agenda going into this process. A third party group should be hired to guide the citizen advisory group and help work on a referendum, if one is supported, he said.
“We want it to be (the community’s) agenda, not ours,” Scarpelli said.
A decision about seeking a referendum wouldn’t be made until next year and would probably not be on the ballot until 2025, officials said.
The park district has two other pools in addition to the one in Sleepy Hollow — Dolphin Cove Aquatic Center, an outdoor facility, and the indoor pool at the Rakow Center, both in Carpentersville.
Sleepy Hollow pool was built in the late 1950s or early 1960s as part of a privately owned country club. The district purchased both for $120,000 in 1972 and altered its L-shaped configuration to create a zero-depth pool in 1986.
Improvements have been made throughout the years, including a new filtration system in 2006, but it would cost millions to restore the current pool to working condition, officials have said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.