Agreement for Stuart Sports Complex Expansion Up for Vote Monday

It’s been in the works for more than five years. And on Monday night, the Montgomery Village Board will vote on the intergovernmental agreement that will make the expansion of Stuart Sports Complex a reality.

Stuart Sports Complex is the Fox Valley Park District’s massive recreation center in the heart of the village. It currently sports 25 full-size soccer fields and four baseball diamonds. The park district plans a 135-acre expansion, north of Route 30 and west of the Montgomery Police Station.

The project will add four lighted baseball fields, 11 soccer fields, 674 new parking spaces and a dog park to the complex. The project will be designed to blend in with the police station campus, and will make room for a future planned expansion of Aucutt Road, something that has been on the village books for years.

Montgomery trustees have already approved plans for the expansion, but on Monday, they’ll get to vote on the agreement between the village and the park district, which irons out all the details.

Trustees got a look at the agreement at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, and most gave their support to it. Trustee Pete Heinz said he would not be in favor of the project if it meant park district taxes would rise, but Village Manager Anne Marie Gaura assured him this would not be the case.

The new Stuart Sports Complex will be paid with about $8.5 million in funds remaining from a 2008 sale of $44.9 million to create improvements across the district. Park district residents voted for a referendum at that time, so the tax increase that will fund the new Stuart has already taken place.

In fact, Village President Marilyn Michelini said, park district residents in Montgomery have been waiting for the district to get to this project, as they’ve been paying for it since 2008.

“If we vote this down, they’ll take that $8.5 million and put it somewhere else,” said Trustee Matt Brolley.

Some details of the intergovernmental agreement:

• The village will grant an L-shaped plot of land on the western end of the police station campus to the park district, in exchange for a parcel on the northwest part of that campus. The district will have use of that 10-acre northwest parcel—as open space, without permits or restrictions—and will maintain it until the village moves forward with plans for a new public works facility.
• The park district will support the construction of a new pedestrian bridge over Route 30 sometime in the future.
• Lights on the ball fields will be turned off each night no later than 11:15 p.m. The district will use downward directional lighting, to prevent light spilling out.
• No parking will be allowed along the entry drive to the complex.
• The village will plow that entry drive when it snows, but only if the park district informs the village that they would like this service each year by Oct. 15.
• The village will waive all transportation impact fees, municipal taxes and other fees for the project.
• The park district will provide police service for the complex, and also to direct traffic at Griffin Drive and Route 30 during events.
• The village and park district will work on a sign for the complex, to be placed on the northwest corner of Griffin Drive and Route 30.
• The park district will make note on all promotional materials that Stuart Sports Complex is located in Montgomery.

Trustees will vote on the agreement at Monday’s Village Board meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 200 N. River Street. The meeting is free and open to the public.