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Schools

Park District Idea for Hubble is Fitting for Wheaton, and Gives District 200 Opportunity to Make a Good Idea Even Better

A Park District-owned Hubble can become Wheaton's focal point—a fitting idea. Now, District 200 officials have an opportunity to take a good vision, make it even better and take action.

The Wheaton Park District provided some much needed leadership for our community when it proposed to buy the Hubble/Wheaton Central school site in downtown Wheaton.  As recently reported on , the Park District wants to buy the site from District 200 for market value, to preserve the open space and recreational facilities used by thousands of our neighbors.   

I support the park district plan, but I also encourage District 200 to show real vision to take a good idea and make it even better. 

We don’t need more consultants or giveaways to developers.  We don’t want a big box store or another strip mall. The city and District 200 have been “studying” for years. Pie-in-the-sky dreams of lagoons and the rerouting of Main Street won’t happen. Most people, whatever their perspective, want action. The park district solution is a common sense plan we can achieve now. More importantly, it fits the character of Wheaton. 

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For years, Hubble has been stuck in a Catch-22. District 200 claims it can’t move the ball forward, because, it says, “the city needs to decide what its vision of that property is … they control the zoning.” Wheaton, in turn, says until District 200 sets a clear timetable to sell the property, the city is hamstrung in planning for development. 

Some people don’t mind the lack of progress. Wheaton Mayor Michael Gresk said, “So it sits another two or three years. Big deal.” He is willing to wait for what he believes would be the perfect commercial development. The problem with this cavalier attitude is that it’s not his money. District 200 says it spends $300,000 annually to maintain Hubble. I haven’t verified that number, but if it’s even close, that money would pay for 5 to 6 teachers a year. District 200 can’t afford the million dollars it would cost to wait. Many properties in downtown Wheaton have been vacant for years—Jewel, Wescott Crossing, the remainder of Courthouse Square, to name a few. Let’s take Hubble off that list. 

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But an even broader plan is needed. Hubble is not the only vacant building District 200 pays to maintain. Woodland Elementary in Warrenville closed in 1989, and has been largely vacant since. Formerly District 200’s underutilized warehouse and parking lot, those functions have been shifted to Hubble, which is more efficient and centrally located. Keep them there, and sell the 5 acre Woodland site to get it back on the tax rolls. 

The District’s School Service Center is built in a flood plain. It has flooded with over 5 feet of water. Move its functions to Hubble, and sell the building to DuPage County to help provide real flood control for areas south of Roosevelt.   

District 200 has said for years that Jefferson Preschool needs renovation. Its last plan was to build a new building on the adjacent playground, bringing noise and disruption to the school day of many sensitive young children while taking away outdoor space. Instead of building new, recycle part of Hubble into a new preschool, for less money. Then sell Jefferson and its 15 acre site. Located close to the DuPage Courthouse and flat, it’s much easier to develop than Hubble.  If the county sells the fairgrounds as some have proposed, the entire area could be redeveloped. That would add the same or more to the City’s tax base than development on the limited buildable area at Hubble. 

Consolidating four sites into one saves on upkeep, and selling the excess sites would bring the most money to District 200 and other taxing bodies. Hubble has enough space for all this and more (the History Center?  COD satellite classrooms?). On the weekend, cars and people flock downtown to Rams football, or to Seven Gables for soccer. Hubble can become a year round draw. As public space, it will help downtown businesses, not cannibalize them. 

Compare two recent high profile developments in Chicago. People aren’t drawn to Chicago to see Block 37—the full block downtown that sat vacant for 25 years while the “planners” waited to impose their grand vision. (The shopping center finally got built, but now sits half empty and in foreclosure.) They come to visit Millennium Park. It’s not on the tax rolls or directly generating sales tax, yet draws millions of people a year who in turn spend money and bring millions in tax revenues and sales for local businesses. With a little intergovernmental teamwork, a Park District-owned Hubble can become Wheaton’s focal point.  Public space is the ultimate gateway to downtown Wheaton. 

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