Naperville Projected To Pass $120M Park District Bond Referendum: Election 2026

NAPERVILLE, IL — The Naperville Park District's $120 million bond referendum question was projected to pass in Tuesday's primary election.

The bond will help fund a new indoor recreation center at Frontier Sports Complex.

Below are the unofficial election results, with 100 percent of votes tabulated in DuPage and Will Counties:

Yes: 15,960

No: 12,587

The question appeared as follows on the ballot:

"Shall the Naperville Park District, DuPage and Will Counties, Illinois, improve parks and facilities, including constructing a multipurpose indoor activity center at Frontier Sports Complex, which would provide fitness and exercise rooms, walking and jogging track, gymnasiums, indoor swimming pools and rooms for programs and community activities, and acquiring land for the purpose of preserving, restoring, and maintaining open spaces and extending trails, and issue its bonds to the amount of $120,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?"

The park district plans to build a new indoor recreation center at Frontier Sports Complex with indoor pools, gyms with walking and running tracks, two new play areas for kids, and other amenities.

The funds will also be used to acquire open land for the addition of walking trails and for conservation.

The park district voted in December to add the bond referendum question to the March 17 ballot. The decision came after a series of surveys and community open houses.

Initially, the park district had proposed six projects to be funded by the $120 million bond, but eliminated four projects after feedback from residents.

The proposed bond amount was $135 million at first, but was adjusted to $120 million after the park district scaled back its proposed projects following feedback from residents.

In a video shared in October, Naperville Park District Executive Director Brad Wilson said the last time voters approved funding for the park district was in 1966, which was when the district was established.

"The community has spoken clearly that it would like more of what the district has to offer," Wilson said. He said these priorities include more opportunities to participate in park district programs.

Wilson said the district also hopes to "ease overall capacity challenges." He mentioned that activities at Frontier Sports Complex currently had waitlists of 1,000 or more participants.

Click the link to see more details about proposed projects and learn more about Naperville Park District's $120 million bond referendum.