Community Park District Gymnasium Referendum | Please Vote Tuesday, April 4

Public Meeting Dates | Referendum FAQ | Conceptual Facility Plans

The Community Park District of La Grange Park supports a healthy and inclusive community by providing access to quality recreational parks, facilities, and services to our residents. Our staff maintains over 26 acres of parkland and six parks, we offer hundreds of recreational opportunities for people of all ages, and we employ eight full time employees and up to 50 part time employees every year. In fact, we are the largest employer of people under the age of 21 in La Grange Park.

More than 40% of the Community Park District operating funds are generated by revenue from programming like Ready Teddy Preschool, yoga, and pickleball. In 2022 alone, the park district saw more than 7,500 people of all ages register for our programs and by adding new programs we have increased program revenue 24% since 2019. That revenue is reinvested right back into the parks and facilities of La Grange Park.

Due to current facility limitations, the Community Park District is only meeting a fraction of La Grange Park’s recreational needs. In fact, data recently received from our partners in Lagrange indicate that our residents spend more than a half a million dollars every single year on recreational opportunities at the park district of Lagrange. La Grange Park residents spend hundreds of thousands more in communities like Oak Brook and Westchester. Every single dollar that is spent on recreational opportunities outside of the Community Park District goes directly into making the parks and facilities in those communities better.

If the Community Park District can recapture even a portion of that revenue by offering exciting new programs for you and your families to enjoy, we would be able increase the frequency of updates at our parks right here at home, which would improve property values and access to the beautiful, quality parks our residents deserve.

On April 4, the park district is asking our residents to consider two referendum measures that would fund an expansion to our existing facility at 1501 Barnsdale Road.

The expansion would include the construction of a gymnasium and new lobby area and would allow the park district to offer new programs, increase the capacity of our existing programs, and run a wide range of opportunities simultaneously. The proposed improvements would also increase the safety of the entire facility by adding a new main entrance and creating a controlled entrance and a secured space for our preschool and summer camp programs.

If both measures pass, residents with a home that has a fair market value of $400,000 would see and additional tax investment in parks of $22 a month or $268 per year.

Please visit www.communityparkdistrict.org for more information on La Grange Park’s Gymnasium referendum so that you can make the most informed decision possible on April 4. Your vote will determine the future of parks and recreation in La Grange Park.