November 24, 2024
Local News

Joliet park board to review new design of East Side rec facility

Preservation commission questions impact on Nowell Park

JOLIET – Plans for an East Side recreational facility are moving forward, although there still is some resistance to the impact on Nowell Park.

Construction could start in the fall with the facility opening in October 2016.

The Joliet Park District board on Monday will see what could be the final design plan for the project, which would include indoor soccer, baseball and basketball facilities.

“We listened to what the community said, and we added some basketball courts with removable floors,” said park board President Glen Marcum.

The proposed building also has become bigger to create storage space for the basketball flooring, which can be removed when not in use.

The size was noticed by members of the Joliet Historic Preservation Commission.

The commission has raised questions about the project. At its monthly meeting Wednesday, members discussed how the new facility would fit in Nowell Park.

“I think it’s going to be a really big box on the property,” said Commissioner Sharon Merwin. “... To me, it’s going to be a really big building on not a big piece of land.”

The commission has considered placing landmark status on the old Nowell Park pool bathhouse, which will be demolished to make room for a parking lot, and one of the pavilions, which will remain.

But, Commissioner Gerri Eck, said the pavilion does not appear to blend in well with the new construction.

“The pavilion is going to be totally lost – what they’re doing to it,” Eck said during the report on the Nowell Park plan.

Marcum said some consideration will be given to incorporating design elements from the bathhouse and pavilion into the recreation facility. He did not agree with the characterization of the design as a big box.

“I think they want to see that the design of the existing bathhouse and the pavilion incorporated into the new building, so it’s not just a warehouse look – which it won’t be,” Marcum said.

The park board will look at the latest design when it meets at 5 p.m. Monday.

Marcum said the plan now is to begin construction in the fall. Architects have said the building could open in October 2016, he said.

The East Side recreation facility is one of several projects in a $19.5 million capital development program approved by voters in a referendum in November 2014.