Should the Park District Buy Five Seasons?

Would you like to see the Northbrook Park District purchase Five Seasons Family Sports Club to turn it into a recreation center?

The district announced their hope to do so earlier this month. The total price tag for the building on Techny Road and a 99-year-lease on the land it sits on is $20.3 million. Roughly $5 million of that would be paid for from park district reserves and the remainder, including whatever cost is needed to renovate the building, would go to voters in a referendum this fall.

Northbrook Patch readers weighed in on both sides of the question with strong opinions. You can read the full list of comments here. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say.

North Brook wrote: “The Community Rec Center in the Glen gets a ton of traffic from Northbrook residents. These types of facilities are popping up more and more around the country. It would be worthwhile to have one in Northbrook.”

Wendy Seltzer wrote: “I am a huge supporter of the purchase. Northbrook is a large enough community that it should have its own central rec center with an indoor pool, a track and classes and programs. We shouldn't have to go to Highland Park or the Glen. I believe a lot of residents who do not pay the high fees to belong to Five Seasons would happily join!”

Patricia Widmar wrote: “Why would we want to pay higher taxes when the YMCA has everything we need? The Park District & the Y should work together to make a greater facility and keep taxes lower.”

Free Market wrote: “How about letting a private entity buy Five Seasons instead of bail out a poor business decision? Instead of spending 20+ million dollars to duplicate facilities already existing how about rebating some of that money to tax payers? I vote no. How about we reduce the size of government for a change.”

What do you think about the proposal? Share your thoughts with your neighbors in the comment section below.