Plans to transform Recreation Park in Arlington Heights are underway as the Arlington Heights Park District secures grants to move forward with the project.
On Jan. 11, the Arlington Heights Park District announced that it received a $2.8 million Park and Recreational Facility Construction grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. This money will help fund a new pool and bathhouse projected to cost the district $18 million, officials explained.
“This project has been on the Park District’s radar for more than a decade and we’re really excited to bring it all to fruition,” said Carrie Fullerton, Arlington Heights Park District executive director, in an interview with Pioneer Press. “Arlington Heights is a swimming town and the community absolutely loves the Recreation Park pool.”
Park District officials included 100 letters of support from residents in the grant application for the new pool and bathhouse. Fullerton said it is one of the only 50-meter swimming pools in the area, which is why it attracts long-course swimmers and a number of swim clubs to the facility.
The project will include renovation of the historic bathhouse, built in 1937, and replacement of the pool which opened in 1939, Fullerton said.
“We’re taking the existing recreation center and turning it back into a bathhouse, which was the original purpose of the building when it was built,” Fullerton said.
The building, which includes a gym and other rooms for Park District programming, will be gutted, she said, to become fully accessible and include new locker rooms, restrooms, individual changing rooms, a lifeguard area and space for concessions. A balcony will be built at the back of the building – overlooking the pool – for gathering and observation of swim lessons.
The historic exterior of the building will be retained, she said.
Although still in the design stages, the new pool will be similar in size and depth to the current one and have a diving well. But the shallow end of the pool will be switched around so it is closer to the children’s water play area, Fullerton said. Currently, the shallow end is opposite of the children’s play area and residents asked for it to be switched around.
The entire project covers 1.5 acres on the north end of the park. Fullerton said construction is expected to begin this spring but the current pool will be open for use this summer and building programming will be relocated to other park facilities.
The entire project is expected to be completed in early 2026, Fullerton said. Additional funding is expected to come from taxes and program fees.
The Park District is also making plans for a two-phase project to further transform Recreation Park.
Fullerton said Phase 1 will include creating a fully accessible playground, building new tennis courts, adding outdoor fitness equipment, and installing a new skate park and outdoor bag games. Adding pavilions and a new parking lot are also in the plans.
The estimated cost of this project is $3.3 million, she said. But the Park District received a $600,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant for the work, along with $200,000 from the Arlington Heights Park Foundation for the accessible playground and a $141,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce.
The Arlington Heights Park District owns the property adjacent to Recreation Park at Northwest Highway where two automotive businesses and a three-unit apartment complex are located on Belmont Avenue. Fullerton said the leases on all three properties are up on Feb. 29 and the businesses and the one remaining tenant in the apartment complex have been notified the leases will not be renewed.
Fullerton said demolition of these properties will begin this spring at a cost of $155,000. Also, the existing playground and tennis courts are expected to be torn down before Frontier Days, the annual festival held in Recreation Park the first week of July. Construction will stop during the festival and resume immediately after, she said, expecting substantial completion of Phase 1 of the project by this fall.
Phase 2 of the project includes new ball fields and other renovations to the park area, according to Fullerton. Two new entrances to the park on Northwest Highway, one at the former site of a gas station and at the underpass, are expected to be built. This phase of the project is expected to cost $2.3 million, and designs are still underway, Fullerton said, adding she hopes to hear soon on grant funding to support this project as well.
“It’s a really exciting project and it’s been fun to work with the community,” Fullerton said. “We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to do this for residents.”
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
