It may sound strange, but if all goes well, the Lions Park Pool in Clarendon Hills won’t be open in 2025.
That’s because the Clarendon Hills Park District, which manages and operates the pool at 100 Byrd Court, is hoping to complete major improvements there next summer.
Clarendon Hills voters in March overwhelmingly supported an $8 million bond issue by the Park District to pay for the planned pool improvements, along with some additional upgrades at parks, including a pickleball court at Prospect Park.
“The improvements at the pool definitely are the major part of this,” said Don Scheltens, the park district’s executive director. “Things are starting to fall into place in preparation for this project, which will likely be a six-month project that we hope to start around June 1. We want to get started around that time so we don’t run into winter before it’s finished.”
Scheltens said without improvements, the 33-year old pool was soon to become inoperable and would have to close due to increased costs of annual maintenance and operational costs. And the pool’s ongoing repair costs have delayed the Park District’s ability to do many other capital projects in the parks.
The Lions Park Pool was opened in 1992 and managed and operated by the Clarendon Hills Lions Club. In 2003, the Lions Club decided it no longer wanted to manage the pool, so the Park District took over operations.
The Park District used residents’ feedback from a pool survey last summer to plan what, if any other improvements would be made, beyond the important operational workings of the facility. The two main amenities to be added are a double waterslide and a new splash playground, Scheltens said.
Because the pool won’t be open in 2025, Park District officials are having discussions with Hinsdale staff about allowing Clarendon Hills residents to pay resident rates in 2025 to use the Hinsdale pool.
Clarendon Hills voters certainly didn’t balk at having their tax bills increase for 15 years when about 70% voted in favor of the referendum to approve the bond issue necessary to fund pool improvements.
A property owner with a home that has a market value of $500,000 will pay approximately $203 per year for 15 years for the improvements to be made, according to information from the Park District.
“There was a groundswell of support for this,” Park Board President Suzanne Austin said. “I think people realized that it’s time to pay it forward. People want their kids to have the pool and other improvements at our parks.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
