OPINION: Keep Five Seasons Referendum Off November Ballot

The following was submitted by Northbrook resident Kati Spaniak:

Let’s start off with full disclosure…

I am a member at Five Seasons. I was a previous member of the YMCA. I worked for the Northbrook Park District when I was 16. I have lived in Northbrook my whole life. I served as a trustee on the Northbrook Village Board. I am a real estate broker. Ok, I’m sure there is more… but honestly, let’s just say that I’ve got some type of conflict of interest no matter how we look at it.

I have to say that Techny Prairie Park and Fields is probably one of the best assets that Northbrook has. Truly, this park is outstanding. From the Trail Through Time, the golf course and the turf fields… it is a wonderful place to spend a summer day.

It was complete foresight, planning and commitment that brought this beautiful development to Northbrook. The commissioners on that park board believed in it and believed in their vision.

And to further that vision, the park district bought 60 acres from the Anetsberger family in 2000. At the same time they entered into an option to buy the remaining six acres for future development. In 2011 the park board exercised its option and bought the remaining land for an additional $2.1 million.

Now, it is time for someone… anyone… to get their vision restored again and come back down to earth.

Please, park board members, go back to what you believe in. And what you believed in was a facility that was on the property at Techny Prairie Park and Fields.

You are trying to put a square peg in a round hole with the acquisition of Five Seasons. It just doesn’t make sense. Membership at the new center will be $125 a month for a family of four. Add another $27 for every family member per month too. That doesn’t even include the yearly increase in property taxes. (Yikes!)

I just can’t see a family paying this for something that is already available in Northbrook at the YMCA for $91 a month for the whole family.

How can you compete with the YMCA for members? Even if you succeed at your first goal of getting the referendum passed, what happens if you don’t succeed at your second goal… getting members to join?

So, ditch the survey you took in 2009. That was before Howard Schultz made the YMCA one of the best community powerhouses on the North Shore.

Accept the fact that the Y does fulfill many of our residents’ needs. Work together and acknowledge the resources they provide to our residents.

And don’t underestimate what an incredible facility Five Seasons is. If they spent any money at all on marketing, maintenance and upkeep, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. It has a gorgeous outdoor pool and an excellent tennis program that would be destroyed if the Park District takes over.

But, with that being said, there are things that these two facilities don’t provide. So, here it is… my presentation of our new Northbrook Community Center!!

We need a large indoor track.

We need an indoor pool/play area for the kids during those long winter months.

We need meeting rooms.

We need a better location for the senior center.

Now, let’s add what would be nice to have… some basketball courts for park district leagues… a small workout facility with weights and equipment for seniors that are not members of the YMCA… maybe an indoor turf area.

Do you see where I am headed? We don’t need to recreate the Park Center in Glenview. We need to build something that best suits OUR community. And you can’t best suit our community if you don’t take into account the other resources that we already have.

Highlight the positives of your neighbors to the east and the west of you on Techny and don’t be swayed by political pull or an outdated poll.

You had the foresight and vision years ago to make Techny Prairie Park and Fields what it is today. Make a community center that is an extension of that vision you believed in 14 years ago.

Please don’t force us Northbrook residents into a battle that isn’t worth the fight. Do not put the Five Seasons referendum on the November ballot. Not only will you destroy an incredible resource that our town already has, but you will not be fulling your own potential on the land that you already own.

Kati Spaniak is a 40-year resident of Northbrook, a former Northbrook Village Board Trustee and a real estate broker with @properties.