Community Park Recreation Center, Lemont Park District

'Two Times is the Charm'

The Lemont Park District was narrowly defeated by single-digit votes when it approached the Lemont community in 2006 about designing a $13 million recreation center.

Not one to quit, the park district re-approached Gilfillan Callahan Nelson Architects about improving the proposed recreation center design. The firm responded by designing the new recreation center in REVIT, the state-of-the-art design software that supercedes its predecessor, AutoCAD.

The improvements were noteworthy, and Lemont citizens this time could see for themselves 3-D models of their proposed facility.

Voters responded in kind in April 2007, by voting 1,238 to 1,147 to design the new aquatic and fitness center for Community Park. The $16.2 million referendum also sets aside money to renovate the Centennial Community Center.

"I'm thrilled for the people of Lemont," says park board president Dan Ganzer. "It's been a long time coming. It means generations to come are going to have a great place to come to."