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Wheeling Park District advances plan to rebuild Aquatic Center, seeks parking and lighting variances
Summary
The Wheeling Park District and its design team presented plans to demolish and replace the village’s aquatic center with a reoriented facility, updated pools and a redesigned west parking lot; the planning commission recommended approval of the special-use amendment, two zoning variances and a major site plan subject to permit and design conditions and forwarded them to the Village Board.
The Wheeling Park District and its consultants laid out plans on May 13 to demolish the existing aquatic center and build a new, reoriented facility at 105 Community Boulevard, and the Plan Commission voted to forward the project and related zoning variances to the Village Board with conditions.
Jan Bukes, executive director of the Wheeling Park District, told the commission the district does not intend to operate the facility at the Illinois Department of Public Health’s full bather capacity and said the operational cap would be lower: "Currently, we have 1,500 capacity in that facility and we're looking to stay within those same numbers," Bukes said. She said the district plans an opening in 2027 and described the demolition of the old facility as already complete.
Confluence project manager Burke Bigler described a reorientation of the main entrance from north to west to make better use of the west parking lot and reduce conflicts near the recreation center. The new design will place separate bathhouse and concessions buildings linked by a guest-entry plaza and will add a smaller mechanical building and a central breezeway for controlled access by day campers, maintenance and emergency vehicles.
The design calls for precast concrete facade panels with a recessed wave pattern, simulated wood soffits, perforated stainless-steel accents and a palette intended to emphasize an aquatic theme. Bigler said the program keeps roughly the same amount of water and deck space as the prior facility while adding some amenities, notably a new adult pool and expanded locker-room fixtures to meet IDPH code.
Staff and the design team also described two variances: a requested decrease in on-site parking from 356 spaces to 192 and a modification of the uniformity requirement for the parking-lot lighting (from a 4:1 to a proposed 6:1 uniformity ratio) to allow reuse of existing poles with higher-performing LED fixtures. Steve (community development staff) explained the parking calculation ties to an IDPH bather-capacity number that does not directly reflect expected day-to-day attendance, and the project relies on overflow parking at the sports complex and alternative transportation (school buses, group travel) to reduce peak parking demand.
Commissioners pressed the team on several operational details. Commissioner Smart asked about circulation and whether the existing access patterns would change; Bigler and Bukes said the district plans to guide patrons toward the west entrance and that an east-side drive already opens to improve flow. Commissioners also raised concerns about night events and peak summer programming colliding with concerts and 5K events; the design team said programming choices and directing traffic to the west lot will be a primary mitigation strategy.
On stormwater, the engineering team explained that new on-site underground volume-control features and bio-retention islands will be added; the project will use remaining Park District detention credits in Heritage Lake for part of the required stormwater control. Don Matthews, civil engineer with Gaywalt Hamilton, said the lake system was designed with excess storage and that the project will use some of the district’s available credits without reducing required flood-storage capacity.
The commission recommended approval of the special-use amendment (ordinance cited in the hearing), both variances and the major site plan subject to a set of conditions: continued coordination of parking and lighting variances with the special-use approval, submission of building permits and construction-ready irrigation and product specifications, and unobstructed access paths for fire-department connections. The items were advanced to the Village Board for final action.
The planning commission discussion produced no final construction permit approvals; staff noted that building permits and final construction documents must be submitted and approved before work begins. Jane Bukes said the district intends to continue coordinating with village staff and aims for the facility to be under construction so it can open in 2027.
