Park District of Oak Park

3 OUR MISSION: In partnership with the community, we enrich lives by providing meaningful experiences through programs, parks and facilities. Jessica Bullock, President Jessica.Bullock@pdop.org Paul Aeschleman, Vice-President Paul.Aeschleman@pdop.org Victor Guarino, Treasurer Victor.Guarino@pdop.org Sandy Lentz, Secretary Sandy.Lentz@pdop.org David Wick, Commissioner David.Wick@pdop.org Dear Residents, BOARD OF PARK DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS Due to ongoing construction at the Hedges Administrative Center, Park Board meetings are temporarily being held at the Oak Park Conservatory, 615 Garfield Street, through March 2015. Park Board meetings are held at 7:30pm on the third Thursday of each month. Committee of the Whole meetings are generally held at 7:30pm the first Thursday of the month at the Oak Park Conservatory, 615 Garfield Street. Public comment is welcome at these meetings. The Park District conducted a Community Attitude and Interest Survey in June 2014 to gather input for the development of a Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP). The CMP will identify parks and recreation needs and establish priorities for Park District facilities, programs and services for the next 10 years. The survey obtained statistically valid results via mail, email and telephone from 2,268 households throughout Oak Park. Here is an overview of the survey results. 89.5% of respondents are satisfied overall with the Park District. • 91.3% of respondents rated Park District programs as either excellent or good which is slightly higher than the 89% of 2010 community survey respondents. • 68% of 2014 survey respondents participated in programs as compared to 38% of 2010 respondents • The top four ranked activities most important to respondents are community-wide special events followed by adult fitness, youth sports/leagues and youth aquatic programs. • 93.9% of respondents visited a park during the past year compared to 85% in 2010 • Park conditions were rated excellent or good by 90.3% of 2014 survey respondents as compared to 85% of 2010 respondents • The Park District seasonal program guide is still the main resource for Park District information with the Park District website a distant second. • The Oak Park Conservatory is the most frequently visited facility amongst 63.7% of survey respondents with 56% of respondents visiting Rehm Pool followed by 44.4% who visited District historic properties. • The top four most important new parks and facilities are an indoor swimming pool followed by indoor walking/running track, indoor fitness/ exercise facilities and art facilities. • In separate questions approximately 69% of respondents were in support of building a new indoor multi-use facility and an indoor swimming pool. However of those that showed their support, only approximately 25% said they would support a tax increase to construct either facility. To read the full survey report, visit pdop.org. Intergovernmental Cooperation There is a long tradition of excellent cooperation between Elementary School District 97 and the Park District of Oak Park regarding indoor and outdoor facility usage, joint facility improvements, communication efforts and more. At press time, the Park District and District 97 were poised to sign a new intergovernmental agreement regarding the maintenance of District 97 ball fields. Currently the Park District schedules but does not maintain these fields. This agreement would bring all responsibility for District 97 ballfields at Brooks and Julian Middle Schools and Beye, Longfellow, Holmes, Hatch and Whittier Elementary Schools under the Park District. The School District will compensate the Park District for all costs associated with this maintenance. Look for more details in the spring program guide. Thank you to the Village of Oak Park for coordinating the Austin Gardens alley improvement project with the Park District's water and sewer lines relocation project at Austin Gardens. The lines were relocated as the first step in the construction of the Austin Gardens Environmental Learning Center coming spring 2015. These efforts are another example of ways in which the Park District and Village work together to save taxpayer dollars. See page 5 for the Austin Gardens project. Happy Holidays to all, Jessica Bullock, President Board of Park Commissioners 3 63.5% of respondents said the Park District helps in maintaining a healthy lifestyle or has actually improved their health.

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