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player ready...A plan to turn the now shuttered Park Forest Aqua Center from a four-pool complex to a slimmed down two-pool facility was introduced to village trustees Monday night.
Recreation and Parks Director Kevin Adams proposed the rebuilding of the large east pool into a four-lap, 74-feet long swimming pool with a 3- to 5-foot depth, as well as the creation of a large-capacity splash pad.
The meeting was the latest step in the redevelopment of one of the villages’ best-known structures.
The project would replace the existing four-pool facility, which was closed early this year because of massive water leaks in all the pools. A plan to fix the leaks, install new pool liners, trims and markings apparently was not enough for approval from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Cost for this redevelopment is estimated to be around $6 million with more than half the money coming from a terminated debt service agreement, said Village Manager Jon Kindseth.
Kindseth said the plan would not increase property taxes for village residents.
“It is our most cost effective solution,” Adams told the board.
Using this plan, he said, could allow for expansion, but he noted the high cost of such amenities “is the reason others don’t have pools.”
Under any plan, the Aqua Center could not open its doors again until 2027.
This recommended option was the most viable of five different options presented to the Village Board. Others included an “ideal” restoration of the entire complex at a cost of $16 million to $20 million, and the permanent closing of the complex and the closing of all pools, leaving the splash pad and the water slide.
Village trustees had differing viewpoints. While Theresa Settles worried about programming sessions for both adults and youth in the same pool, Randall White said he was “not in favor” of a plan that would not favor teens and young adults.
Trustee Maya Hardy urged consideration of a smaller lap pool length, which could allow for the building of a secondary pool, which she said would “meet the needs of all of our residents.” Trustee Tiffani Graham urged the building of an all-weather roof on the pool.
Trustee Erin Slone noted that pool attendance had declined by 25% during the 2023-2024 season and said the board shouldn’t romanticize about things we used to have.
“We are putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound,” she said, by not boosting fees for nonresidents.
Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.