Emma Price, 5, likes to ice skate. She likes doing squiggles and figures and pretending she’s Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan. But she especially likes the Naperville Park District’s parent and tot skating, where she skates a few days a week with her mother, Mary.
“I like being with my mom,” Emma said. “Sometimes I can learn stuff from her. And it’s fun where it’s just us.”
Spending time with her daughter attracted Mary Price as well. “With a kindergartner, so many times, it’s just me sitting and watching what she’s doing,” she said. “This gives us a chance to do something together. It’s also a chance for me to move myself and get some exercise.”
Parent and tot skating is one of more than 900 programs offered each year by the Park District. Each program has dozens of sections, and programs address all age groups, from young children to seniors.
“We do an outstanding job providing park and recreation,” said Ken Brissa, named executive director of the Park District in August. “What we don’t have is nearly the amount of indoor space that we need. We’re looking to add more multiuse space in the future.”
Toward that end, the Park District, created in 1966, has begun work on a strategic plan, a three- to five-year set of priorities and goals, and ways to accomplish them. Last year the seven-member board held public hearings to gather information and ideas from the community.
“We held public hearings and had focus groups in four different regions of the city to find out what people wanted,” Brissa said. “Then we built that into the strategic plan. What we found out is that people want more interesting things in the parks. They want more nature areas, more trails. And they want more indoor space. The lack of indoor facilities really came out.”
He said the first draft of the strategic plan should be available at public libraries and on the Park District’s Web site (www.napervilleparks.org) in late March or early April.
Other items high on Brissa’s list are continued work on the DuPage Bike Trail Project and completion of a building survey. The trail system eventually will include more than 20 miles of asphalt trail for hikers, bikers and in-line skaters. The first mile of the trail was completed late last year.
“We’ve hired a consultant to survey what facilities the Park District has, what we need and how best to maximize use of the space we have,” Brissa said. “We’ve come a long way but still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The Park District serves about 80,000 people a year, about 60 percent of Naperville’s population. Half its $21.5 million annual budget is collected from property taxes. The other half comes from a combination of fees, advertising and sponsorships. The district’s tax rate for the 2001 budget year is 27.88 cents per $100 valuation. That means the average family in Naperville, with a house valued at $222,500, will pay the district $197.02 this year.
A.J. Gerken, who has been teaching basket weaving for 12 years, said being part of the Park District makes it easy for him to focus on teaching. “They do all the work,” Gerken said. “They get all the students lined up, collect all the money. I just show up and teach people.”
Space in programs like Gerken’s is decided via a lottery system. Many of the most popular programs have waiting lists, which can be frustrating for patrons.
“They have some really great programs, but there’s a lot more demand for them than there is space,” said Debbie Battoe, another mother involved in parent and tot skating who also participates in several other Park District programs.
The lottery system was designed to give everyone an equal chance of getting into the programs, said Ellen O’Hare, marketing director. “Because we can never guarantee that everyone will get the program guide at the very same moment, the lottery makes it more fair,” she said. Naperville residents receive priority.
Although many of the services the district offers also are available through private providers, such as health clubs or racquet courts, the district works to ensure its programs are affordable. For example, fees for the parent and tot skating are $89 for residents and $133.50 for non-residents, and fees for basket weaving are $43 for residents and $65 for non-residents.
The district has a scholarship program for those unable to pay.
The district’s early childhood programs were designed to give children a head start on school, socialization and play activities, said Cindy Szkolka, director of recreation. The district has a traditional year-round preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, but the most popular programs are the recreation courses that run six to eight weeks. The district also has a variety of “under-3” programs aimed at teaching toddlers about balance and movement, such as a mini-gymnastics class called Gym Tigers.
New Horizons, the section devoted to people 55 and older, offers dozens of programs at the Rubin Riverwalk Community Center, 305 W. Jackson Ave. “We provide transportation for seniors who couldn’t make it to activities otherwise,” Szkolka said.
Seniors can shoot pool, watch videos or get involved with the district’s travel program, which organizes day trips to theaters, museums and historic sites, and international travel.
“Generally, they are social programs, but we do have some with fitness components,” Szkolka said. “We also have card and board game groups that meet regularly to play.”
The district also arranges courses on subjects of interest to seniors, including tax planning and insurance counseling. “We want to make sure we have classes that are specific to their needs,” Szkolka said.
Besides its program offerings, the Park District maintains 2,300 acres of parkland, one aquatic facility and two golf courses, making it one of the five largest in Illinois. There are 125 park sites, including more than 60 neighborhood parks totaling more than 400 acres. The district also has 14 larger “community parks,” which account for almost one-third of the district’s open space and provide a wider variety of activities than neighborhood parks.
Both golf courses have 18 holes and are par 72. Springbrook, 83rd Street at Book Road, is a more traditional course, with lots of trees, rolling greens, several ponds and a creek. Naperbrook, 111th Street at Naperville-Plainfield Road, is more of a links-style course, with different hazards and challenges.
The Park District also has invested in Web technology to make its programs, plans and activities easier for the public to access. The Web site has daily rainout and cancellation information; maps of all the parks complete with addresses, acreage and a list of amenities; a jobs section listing full-time, part-time and seasonal openings; and a section for press releases issued by the district.
The district began accepting registration over the Web late last year and hopes to have its complete program guide online by spring. “Right now, you have to have the brochure in front of you to register,” O’Hare said.
UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS
Theater
“Run for Your Wife” by Ray Cooney, presented by The Summer Place Inc., Naperville’s Community Theatre, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Feb. 25 in the auditorium of Naperville Central High School, 440 W. Aurora Ave., Naperville. Admission: $13 for adults, $11 for seniors and students, $6 for children younger than 12. Tickets are available at the Naperville Park District Administration Building, 320 W. Jackson Ave.
Nature classes
“Footprints and Gaits: Animal Tracking,” 1 to 3 p.m. March 4 at The Conservation Foundation, 10S404 Knoch Knolls Rd.
“Who Lives in Your Neighborhood?” 1 to 3 p.m. March 18 at The Conservation Foundation. Participants will learn how to look for signs of wildlife in their neighborhoods. Register in advance as an individual or family. Come dressed for the weather.
Sunday matinee
The movie “Fiddlesticks and Dots” will be shown. Popcorn, games and a special guest will be featured. 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Rubin Riverwalk Community Center Community Hall, 305 W. Jackson Ave.
Call the Naperville Park District at 630-848-5000 to register.
— Compiled by Maggie Sieger.
