Suburban Stadiums: Prairie Lakes Community Center

This is the third installment of Des Plaines Patch’s newest series: Suburban Stadiums. Each week will feature a different local athletic facility, from fitness centers to neighborhood parks. We’ll dive into its history, current offerings and provide a calendar of major events that it will host.

Prairie Lakes Community Center

With a wide variety of programs and classes, the Prairie Lakes Community Center seemingly has an activity for everyone. Indoor and outdoor jogging tracks are just one example of how Prairie Lakes seeks to be Des Plaines’ athletic center year-round.

History and Facility: The Des Plaines Park District took the first step in constructing the community center when it bought 36.5 acres of land in June of 1988. A little less than three years later, they began work on the site and opened the Prairie Lakes Community Center in 1992. Including development cost, the park district spent more than $11 million on the community center.

Walking tracks were installed when the building was first constructed. Outside, it has a smaller half-mile loop and a longer three-quarter-mile loop. The track is a blacktop surface.

The fitness center was renovated in 2006 to upgrade all of the strength equipment. Newer, sleeker versions replaced older machines and televisions with receiver boxes were added to individual machines. The layout of the facility was redesigned.

The community center shuts down many rooms and courts for annual upgrades and cleaning.

“At the end of every August we close our gymnasium, racquetball courts, our track and aerobics room,” Shelli Sarg, facilities manager, said. “The track is closed so we can do a thorough cleaning of our indoor track and all of the others get closed so we can refinish the floors.”

While there are no major renovations planned, the Park District does plan to upgrade the cardiovascular equipment by getting new treadmills and other pieces to keep current.

Programming: The fitness center offers a variety of classes that range from dance lessons to kickboxing.

“We’re here to offer great programs that the community’s looking for,” Sarg said. “We have so many supervisors that do different aspects of the Park District, whether it’s dance or preschool or fitness. We just look to offer what our public is looking for in a variety of classes that people will enjoy and benefit from.”

The Park District has looked to expand its classes within the last five years. Kickboxing, yoga and cycling, among other things, are now offered. The Park District has even implemented Zumba dance classes, something Sarg looked into after receiving a lot of interest and feedback from members.

The center also has open basketball time every day except Saturday, and Thursday nights offer local volleyball players a chance to play pick-up games at night. These are often popular with kids right after school and adults in the evening.

Calendar: In late September, the fitness center will put together programs in coordination with National Women’s Health and Fitness Day. Women get to use the fitness center for free and take specialty classes.