Skateland History: Channahon Park District Dumps Property

CHANNAHON, IL —Channahon's Park District has owned and operated the Skateland Recreation Center roller skating rink since the 1980s, but those days are over. The park district has chosen to sell the Skateland property along Route 6 for $550,000, court records show.

A Joliet area company, Tobro Ltd., has purchased the land, which consists of 2.27 acres. Skateland is at 25334 West Eames St., right next to the Channahon Lanes bowling alley. A 12,000-square-foot roller skating facility, Skateland was also available for wedding receptions, banquets, birthday partes, fundraisers, pizza parties and private skating events, according to the Channahon Park District.

Under Illinois law, the sale of the park district land needs approval from a Will County judge.

On Thursday, Channahon Park District Executive Director Mike Leonard told Patch that park district staff agreed that Skateland was losing a significant amount of money over the years and it no longer made sense to fund its operations.

Skateland has been shutdown since the pandemic began last March.

However, Leonard stressed that the coronavirus shutdown had nothing to do with the park board's decision to sell off the property.

Skateland needed between $1 million to $1.5 million in building improvements. On the other hand, Skateland generated about $20,000 annually in net revenue, Leonard said.

"We ran that facility as a roller skating rink," he said.

On the other hand, Channahon's community swimming pool is a huge summer attraction. The money from the sale of Skateland can offset the costs to make several major improvements to the community pool later this year.

Improvements to the pool are slated to begin this coming fall, Leonard said. The tennis and pickle ball courts also need to be resurfaced.

From Leonard's standpoint, using park district funds to upgrade the pool, tennis and pickle ball courts is the wisest and best use of the taxpayer funds, as opposed to keeping Skateland open now and into the future.

"It really comes down to our strategic plan and the wisest use of the taxpayers' dollars," he said.

Leonard said he is optimistic a Will County judge will approve the sale of Skateland to the private business.

A few years ago, Joliet's Park District did a similar land transaction when it sold a portion of the Wedgewood Public Golf Course at Route 59 and Caton Farm Road for the new Hawk Auto dealership that was later built.

The Channahon Park District hired one of the state's premier municipal law firms, Ancel Glink, to file the legal documents at the Will County Courthouse in hopes of convincing a judge to approve the Skateland land sale.

"Typically, these sales are approved," Leonard said.

To see the Channahon Park District's 2020-2025 strategic master plan, go here.