Clarendon Hills Pool Referendum: Election 2024

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills voters are set to decide Tuesday on whether to allow the local park district to go $8 million into debt for a major pool project.

The Clarendon Hills Park District has warned the public that it would close Lions Park Pool if voters fail to pass the referendum.

But some residents disagree that it's an all-or-nothing choice.

For the owner of a $500,000 house, the tax hike would mean a $203 annual increase for 15 years, according to the district.

The district contends the pool will soon become inoperable, saying it needs money for upgrades.

Without the tax hike, the park district said it would immediately close the pool and return it to the Lions Club. The club, which used to run the pool more than two decades ago, said it, too, would shut down the pool.

Resident Mac Martin noted that $3 million of the $8 million is for extras, not refurbishing what the district already has

The $3 million is expected to pay for a larger splash pad area and a new double slide, which would be in addition to the existing slide.

"I'm all in favor of the upkeep of the system for the existing pool," Martin said in an interview. "I'm certainly not in favor of paying an additional $3 million for amenities for the slide and the splash pad. That will cost more money in the future for maintenance."

Asked about this during an interview, Donald Scheltens, the park district's executive director, said the board has stated it would no longer run the pool if the measure fails. He said the board has not said whether it would advance a smaller referendum if the current one fails.

A survey last year, he said, showed residents wanted amenities such as slides and splash pads. The survey participation rate was about 10 percent of residents.

According to the district, the number of family passes dropped by one-fourth to 453 last year, down from 606 in 2019. That means a drop in the pool's income.

The reduction has been with nonresident family passes, which went up in price. They made up 58 percent of the total in 2019, compared with 28 percent four years later.

Meanwhile, the number of resident passes increased by nearly 30 percent in the same period.

After the pandemic, residents believed the pool was too crowded, so the district increased nonresident rates, Scheltens said.

He said maintenance costs would increase with the double slide and larger splash pad. And he said the pool would have to hire another lifeguard with the expansion.

Martin said the district doesn't know why the number of family passes is down.

"Residents' membership is up. They have lost nonresidents," he said. "You drive up the price for nonresidents, and they stop coming."