The Naperville Park District is gathering community feedback on possible renovations at the Nike Sports Complex and the Fort Hill Activity Center in anticipation of upgrading and maybe adding amenities next year and beyond.
Earlier this spring, the district launched two separate public opinion campaigns to gauge residents’ interest in future capital improvements, Executive Director Brad Wilson said. The first is focused solely on Nike complex. The other is an assessment of indoor recreational needs across the district, including the nearly 84,000-square-foot Fort Hill center.
By this fall, officials will have processed the input received and should have a better idea of what projects the district might undertake in coming years, Wilson said.
Community outreach on Nike Sports Complex started last month.
Among the upgrades under review are an expansion of a loop trail within the complex and the addition of a “ninja-type” challenge course to the site, Wilson said. The district also is considering a playground renovation, new water spray features and adding synthetic turf to ball fields.
“Really, the hope is to gather the thoughts and opinions from the residents on what some of the proposed improvements are and whether they would have an interest or need for those at the park,” Wilson said.
The district held an initial open house on May 22 for the public to weigh in on possible improvements to the Nike complex, which hasn’t undergone significant renovations since 2011. Another is scheduled for 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 18, at the outdoor Book Family Pavilion, 1520 N. Mill St.
When the input process is complete, the district intends to develop a master plan that will not only guide prospective Nike renovations but also allow the district to seek state funding, Wilson said.
District officials hope to land an Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to cover complex improvements, he said. OSLAD grants are awarded to government agencies to help acquire land and develop recreational space.
The district has had success with OSLAD grants before, with one a few years back helping add new amenities to Meadow Glens Park, including a nature playground and a winter skating area.
“We felt that Nike Sports Complex would be a good candidate to put together an OSLAD grant … to hopefully get some funding to assist with it,” Wilson said.
They’re charting a similar course with indoor recreation space. Through a needs assessment, the district is evaluating community satisfaction with the indoor space it currently offers and trying to determine if there is demand for more.
The assessment was spurred by a post-pandemic surge in facility use and participation in district programming that’s made it tough to accommodate everyone, Wilson said. For example, youth basketball leagues having waitlists and the Fort Hill fitness facility has almost 2,000 more members than it did five years ago, he said.
Also on the district’s radar is getting more input on the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Community Center, Knoch Knolls Nature Center and Seager Park Interpretive Center and assessing its use of other indoor spaces, including those they lease or have access to through partnerships with local school districts.
This assessment, a major initiative included in the district’s 2023-25 strategic plan, is moving forward in a few different ways, Wilson says.
Between March and April, the district held a series of focus group meetings at which residents were asked to share firsthand challenges they’ve faced with indoor space and ideas for making it better. Those were followed up with a pair of open houses earlier this month.
Up next is surveying the whole community. An indoor needs survey will go live on the district’s website in coming weeks, Wilson said.
Asked what the district is hearing from residents so far, early conversations have indicated there’s an interest in some type of aquatic space — currently, there is none — and adding more outside and inside synthetic fields, he said.
There are no firm plans to expand indoor space, Wilson said, because doing so would likely require the district to seek voter approval for a bond referendum to pay for it. That is another subject district officials are posing to residents at the feedback sessions, he said.
Once the recommendations are compiled and presented to the Naperville Park Board later this year, there will be a clearer idea on how they might proceed, Wilson said.
“We would certainly look to begin addressing and working from those recommendations as soon as we could within the coming years,” he said.
