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IT WAS JUST ANOTHER of those local referendums, June 15, 1946, in Downers Grove, Illinois. The vote was 130 FOR and 82 AGAINST. Little did the people know at the time what the future would hold for the newly created Downers Grove Park District. Parks were not new to Downers Grove, however. There had always been play fields and parks, a few ponds along the banks of St. Joseph Creek to supplement the big back yards and various school grounds which were used for recreation areas. With the newly created Park District, park and recreation planning was no longer left to chance in a community of 10,000 persons. (Downers Grove has now grown to nearly 35,000 in population.) THE CHOSEN FEW The honor roll of American democracy is filled with the names of tens of thousands of men and women who put service above self by taking part in government by the governed. So it was on June 27, 1946, that Otto H. Hummer, E. Russell Bradley, Phillips Goodell, Phillip S. Rinaldo, Jr., and Frank W. Ahalt left the comforts of quiet evenings with their families or other such harmonious pursuits, to begin the service of their neighbors as commissioners of the Downers Grove Park District. IN QUEST OF LAND Residents of what is predicted to become the center of the vast metropolitan area of Chicago by the 1980's, stretches between Lake Michigan and the Fox River, may someday appreciate the simple but awesome service the park districts of Northeastern Illinois have done for them. Local park districts and other municipal agencies have stubbornly strived to acquire and preserve open lands for recreation purposes which might otherwise be filled by pavement and buildings in the great urban sprawl. The Downers Grove Park District started its life with donated land from the Village of Downers Grove when the Village deeded over to the park board most of its existing park properties. Since that time the park board has bought land on numerous occasions of which they could not afford, but somehow always found ways to pay for.
Jo Anne L. Baker is a former commissioner of the Downers Grove Park District and Robert W. O'Brien serves as Treasurer for the District. Illinois Parks and Recreation 6 January/February, 1972 M.C.K. Associates, management specialist for the Downers Grove Park District, recently announced the hiring of the first full-time Recreation Supervisor for the district.
Today the park district controls about 200 acres of park land including a beautiful 9 hole golf course. This is about 100 acres short of the recommended national average. However, the present board plans to acquire as much land as available and bring its land holdings up to the national standards. DOLLARS AND SENSE When the park board had its first meeting they voted to borrow $500 for "the business of operating the district". Today, the district's assessed valuation has climbed to $131.5 million and the total levy for all funds for fiscal 1970-71 exceeded $328,263. BIG BORROWING The park district's first bonded indebtedness in all the years of its history began with $425,000 in general obligation bonds dated December 1, 1965. Money from this issue was used toward the purchase of Doerhoefer Park, West Side Parksite, Northeast Parksite and parts of Lyman Parksite. In late 1968 the park district's second bond issue was sold in the amount of $200,000. This time the funds were earmarked for capital improvements. The park district returned to the bond market in late 1970 and sold $200,000 worth of ten year bonds to provide additional cash for land acquisition. RECREATION BECOMES A PART It was not until six years after the district was formed that organized recreation became a part of the district's overall program. On April 30, 1952, the park board created a "Department of Recreation", headed by President Otto H. Hummer. (Hummer later was appointed director of the district.) In 1964 Muriel Martinek was the first person to be appointed to the position of recreation director. Later, in 1966 Gordon G. Teichmann was appointed to that position and is still directing the district's recreation programs. Today the district offers a broad and comprehensive recreation program reaching into every age bracket with the participation in the thousands. In order to give the residents of the district the most for their dollar, a working relationship has been established with the local school district as well as numerous local community groups and organizations. The relationship between the park district and school districts
Continued on Page 29 Illinois Parks and Recreation 7 January/February, 1972 DOWNERS GROVE... Continued from Page 7 #58 and #99 have been outstanding. For many years there has been a reciprocal agreement between the three organizations where the park district is permitted to use certain school gyms and playfields. In return, the park district uses its personnel and equipment to take care of mowing all school grass throughout the year. TWENTY-FIVE AND COUNTING As the Downers Grove Park District moves into its 26th year it would require more than a mere mortal to predict accurately what the park district, or Downers Grove itself for that matter, will be like 25 years from today. If predictions of today are correct, it will be the center of the population for the greater Chicago area. But somehow, as in the past, the men and women of the park district will cope with the changes and challenges which are sure to come as the area continues its steady growth. If one were asked, on this 25th anniversary, to assign a slogan to the work done to date by the Downers Grove Park District, the only suitable words would be: "We have only begun." Illinois Parks and Recreation 29 January/February, 1972 |
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