Clarendon Hills $8M Pool Measure Prevails: Unofficial Results

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – A big majority of Clarendon Hills voters on Tuesday favored an $8 million referendum for upgrading Lions Park Pool, according to unofficial results.

Seventy percent of voters supported the Clarendon Hills Park District measure, with 30 percent against it. About 900 votes had been counted. The measure won in all eight of the district’s precincts.

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

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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.

About $5 million is expected to be spent on refurbishing the pool, while the other $3 million is designated for a larger splash pad and a new double slide, which would be in addition to the existing slide.

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According to the district, the number of family passes dropped by one-fourth to 453 last year, down from 606 in 2019. That meant 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.

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After the pandemic, residents believed the pool was too crowded, so the district increased nonresident rates, Donald Scheltens, the district’s executive director, told Patch earlier this month.

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.


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