A much-debated plan for a new Benet Academy football/sports stadium that required six planning and zoning commission review sessions before getting a positive recommendation heads to the Lisle Village Board Monday night.
The private high school, which draws a large number of students from Naperville, is seeking village permission to build a 1,900-seat football stadium to replace the one near Maple Avenue and Cascade Drive, which is no longer used for varsity football and is described by Benet officials as a “relic of the 1960s.”
Plans call for the installation of two synthetic turf fields, track, stadium lighting, press box, bleachers, long jump and pole-vaulting pit, scoreboard, time clock, modified parking lot, multifunction building and storage buildings.
The proposal has its supporters and opponents, Lisle Village Manager Jeff Cook said.
Some neighbors, like Becky Vacco-Giudice, look forward to seeing Benet’s varsity football team playing on its own field for the first time in 20 years.
The team has played its home games at Benedictine University across the street since 2005.
“For me, being able to transform something that is under used and outdated and turning it into a space that’s visibly more appealing, turning it into something with purpose, will add to our neighborhood,” Vacco-Guidice said.
Unlike some of her neighbors, she’s not worried that a handful of football games, some of which will be played at night, will pose a problem for the neighborhood or have an adverse effect on property values, she said.
Other residents like Linda Donahue, however, do not agree.
Games would be played less than 100 feet from Donahue’s property line. And while football will be the big draw, the stadium also will be used for soccer, lacrosse, girls flag football, track matches and physical education classes.
Donahue’s attorney Phil Luetkehans said he’s been hired to represent her interests but she’s not alone in her opposition.
“I have one client, but many people are objecting,” Luetkehans said. “It’s the proximity to these homes, the noise, the lights. … It’s definitely going to affect the way they live, the enjoyment of their homes.”
About 15 property owners on Cascade Drive back up to the Benet property, he said.
“We suggested they put it on the other side of the property (close to Yackley Avenue), but they said they can’t move it further east,” Luetkehans said. “They say it’s a safety issue, but the whole place is fenced.”
There are also concerns about fans parking on Cascade during games, he said.
Residents of the nearby Oak Hill South subdivision told the commission that noise and light from the stadium will have a negative effect on their quality of life.
But Benet President Bill Myers and Athletic Director Scott Lawler say the improvements are long overdue, noting the current stadium was built in 1961, preceding the houses that would come later.
While they declined to reveal how much the new stadium is expected to cost, they said they are hoping construction could start in March and be done in time for the 2026 football season.
Before that can happen, the village board will need to sign off on a major change to the school’s Planned Unit Development as well as a special use permit for sports and recreational lighting.
The last update to the existing stadium was the installation of a new track in 1991.
“It’s time to modernize and bring it up to par with other area schools — public or private — lights, turf,” Myers said. “Our kids need them to compete in a healthy, safe environment.”
Lawler said he thinks the improvements will attract more student-athletes “because they’re going to see we’re playing at home. … It’s hard to have kids on campus and point across the street and say, ‘That’s our home over there.’”
The stadium would boast a new concession center near the north end zone and offer locker rooms for each team, a first for Benet, Lawler said.
There also will be seating for 500 visiting team fans, something the old stadium never had.
As for the home side, they currently have enough space to seat 600 but will be able to accommodate as many as 1,400 with the new stadium. The school initially wanted enough seating for 2,000 people but scaled it back in response to residents’ concerns.
“We have been listening to our neighbors,” Myers said.
Following commission meetings that started in July, the school agreed not only to reduce the seating count but to install a solid 8-foot fence on the west property line parallel to the stadium, provide a plan on how it will deal with overflow parking and work with the police chief on closing Cascade Drive at Maple Avenue to nonresidents when home football games are scheduled, according to village documents.
Benet also agreed that the sound system will not exceed 83 decibels on the west property line and will be shut off at 10 p.m., light usage will be limited to 54 days a year, shut off by 7 p.m. on practice days and not used on Sundays or in December, January, February, June or July.
Benet spokesman Patrick Skarr said the village has received more than 800 letters in support of the project. Among those endorsing it are the Lisle Area Chamber of Commerce, Benedictine University and several Lisle businesses, he said.
The majority of games will not be played at night, and Friday night varsity football games may begin as early as 7 p.m., Lawler said.
“We’ve talked of lower-level games start at 4:30 or play on Saturday so we can make sure with football … people can have their Friday nights,” he said. “We’ll play four to five regular season and some playoff games, if we’re lucky to host any. A lot are Friday night but many are Saturday (afternoon).”
The bottom line, Lawler said, is the stadium is about more than just football.
“It’s a multipurpose facility we’ll be able to use for our (entire) school,” he said.
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
