I strongly support the creation of a Park District Comprehensive Aquatics Center at the Ridgeland outdoor pool/indoor ice rink. Given the excellent planning and administration skills of Executive Director Jan Arnold, CPRE, and her amazing expansion of cradle-to-grave, active-and-passive recreation through our park district, within a very tight budget, any project she endorses I am totally in for.
But the project itself stands alone in its merit and in the community need and desire for a comprehensive aquatic center — swimming, water aerobics, and easy exposure to aquatic recreation from cradle to grave. While the YMCA, Gottlieb Exercise Center and the aquatic programs at the high school provide valuable services, there remains a need for increased expansion of year-round aquatic familiarization, recreation and physical conditioning and exercise.
Swimming is one of the best and lowest impact forms of physical exercise and conditioning, yet is one of the most expensive to access. The comprehensive exercise and water sports programs at the three existing aquatics centers leave little room for new aquatic opportunities. Not only this, but the community lost two other sources of indoor pool recreation (namely the Gottlieb Health Club and the pool at Oak Park Hospital) to provide land for commercial and health-care development.
We definitely need a park district indoor pool and Jan Arnold is definitely the planner to bring this resource to our community on time, under budget, and funded within our tax base’s fiscal health.
Frank Vozak
Oak Park
