District News

New Rec Center, Pool Project Underway Following Groundbreaking At Lions Park

Author Richard Mayer | Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Work will begin soon on construction of a new Lions Park Recreation Center in Mount Prospect along with a new pool following a groundbreaking ceremony held at the current facility at 411 S. Maple St. on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Mount Prospect Park District Executive Director Jim Jarog kicked off the event, which counted park and village officials in attendance along with several community members.

“We are here to celebrate the start of construction for our new Lions Recreation Center and Community Pool — an extremely important moment in the 70-year history of our park district,” Jarog said. “The work that will take place over the coming months is a result of years of careful planning, preparation and community support.”

Jarog noted the project was only made possible because of the voter-approved $46.2 million referendum passed in November 2024.

“Back in 2015, our board asked staff to explore options to address the district’s aging wave pool and recreation facility at Lions Park,” Jarog said. “Unfortunately, none of the financially feasible options could truly meet the growing needs of our community. We simply did not have the necessary funding available to take on a project of this scale.”

Jarog noted that in 2017, the park district took the first major step forward by developing a strategic plan to guide the park district’s operations and priorities for the coming years. Upon completion of the strategic plan in 2022, they moved to the next phase: creation of a comprehensive master plan in 2023.

Jarog said the purpose of that plan was to gather public input and identify future needs of both residents and the park district. He said this process involved countless hours of work by staff to gather community feedback and identify available funding opportunities.

The culmination of all those efforts, Jarog said, led to the 2024 referendum.

The park district is now beginning construction of a new community recreation center and new outdoor recreational facilities including a swimming pool, pickleball courts, skate plaza,
basketball court, outdoor game area, and seasonal ice rink.

Lions Memorial Park spans 20.8-acres and was established in 1955. It contains a recreation center, parking lot, and outdoor recreational amenities including a swimming pool, bandshell, tennis courts, ball fields, playground, and walking paths. The recreation center was constructed in 1970, the swimming pool in 1984, and the bandshell in 1999.

The park district will demolish the existing recreation center and swimming pool, to construct the new recreation center and pool, including a splash pad, water slides, bath house, and equipment building.

The new two-story recreation center will span 55,700 sq. ft. and contain a gymnasium, walking track, dance studio, multi generational room, multi-purpose rooms, art studio, and preschool room.

Six pickleball courts will be installed to the east of the existing tennis courts and will feature fencing and wind screens similar to the tennis courts. The skate park and basketball court will be located east of the playground.

The seasonal ice rink will be located south of the recreation center and will be a “flood-type” sheet of ice.

Jarog thanked park board commissioners — past and present — for supporting staff and believing in the district’s vision. He also thanked the citizen’s task force for helping identify the needs of the district, along with the village for pledging $1.5 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding, which will help fund the new community pool and skate park amenities.

“And most Importantly, I would like to thank our taxpayers who supported our vision with an overwhelming 64.5% approval of our referendum,” Jarog said. “Your confidence in our district means everything.”

Park Board President Tim Doherty noted this past June, the park district celebrated 70 years.

“Soon after the park district was formed, the Lions Club donated the land we stand on today to the park district,” Doherty said. “Lions Memorial Park has stood as a center-point of our district for many years with the park district’s first swimming pool; first standalone recreation center; endless baseball, soccer, and football games; tennis matches; countless special events; and more recently the Veteran’s Memorial fountain and bandshell and the addition of movie nights and concerts. It brings great pride knowing that thanks to this project, the community will continue to use Lions Memorial Park for many years to come.”

Doherty also thanked the task force that helped mold this project into what it has become and gave much needed advice and direction to the park district and the village for their partnership.

“To the current and former park district board, thank you for moving forward with the referendum and seeing the long-term benefit this project will have on the park district and community,” he said. “This project has been talked about for many years in one form or another, and your support was the first large step in making it come to reality. Thank you to the residents in our community. None of this would be happening today without the support of the park district residents, and them seeing the need to update and improve our offerings to the community. We are excited to see this park continue to provide for the community well into the future of the park district. Hopefully we can count on all of you coming back in May 2027 to help cut some celebratory ribbons.”

Additionally Mayor Paul Hoefert provided a few comments.

“I am so excited to be standing here today taking part in the groundbreaking for our new Lions Park Rec Center,” Hoefert said. “This groundbreaking marks a key step to building a new and contemporary recreation center in Mount Prospect, which will meet the needs of the people for many years to come. This will be a place where people can come together for leisure activities, physical activities, and learning activities.”