Village of Orland Park Celebrates Aquatic Center 25th Anniversary

ORLAND PARK, IL – It was a chilly Saturday morning in early July, 1992 when Village of Orland Park officials and staff gathered to celebrate the opening of the village’s first ever community pool, Centennial Pool.

“I remember how excited we were to finally have a community pool but it was cold and windy when we dedicated it during the village’s Centennial Celebration,” said Trustee Jim Dodge who was village clerk in 1992. “Not many went swimming that weekend.”

The Centennial Family Celebration included the Saturday morning ribbon cutting at the pool followed by a parade, carnival and the dedication of the park the next day at 3 p.m. A number of bands performed during the village’s July 5^th centennial celebration including The Guess Who.

Village Trustee Pat Gira was a member of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board when the pool opened. Gira currently chairs the Village Board’s Recreation and Parks Committee.

“It was very exciting to be a part of this first for Orland Park,” Gira said. “And, over the past 25 years, we’ve added to the pool and made it the wonderful water park that it is today – with excellent safety ratings and named the best public pool by Chicago Magazine,” she said.

Village officials will mark the facility’s silver anniversary when the pool opens with a Saturday, May 27^th 11 a.m. ribbon cutting with birthday cake. The pool opens to the public at noon and the first 500 guests will receive free water bottles. The anniversary admission for the pool on Saturday is $2 for village residents.

The 1992 dedication of the pool was held during July 4^th weekend that included the village’s Centennial Family Celebration.

“The late Trustee Bill Vogel and I co-chaired the village’s Centennial Celebration,” Dodge said. “Mayor Fred Owens died just two months before and we made him the honorary chair because he started planning the village’s celebration in 1991. Fred died before the pool opened but his family would drive him over before he died so he could see how construction was progressing on the pool that he always wanted for Orland Park.”

Information about the village’s Centennial Park Aquatic Center is available by calling the Recreation Department at 708/403-PARK and at www.orlandpark.org.

PHOTO CAPTIONS

It was 25 years ago this summer when members of the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees cut the ceremonial ribbon opening the village’s Centennial Pool. Pictured (l to r) are then Village Clerk Jim Dodge, Trustee Rich Della Croce, Trustee Bernie Murphy, Acting Mayor Richard Nogal, Trustee Bill Vogel, Trustee Ed Schussler and Trustee Tom Dubelbeis.

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Members of the village’s Recreation and Parks Advisory Board were on hand at the July, 1992 grand opening of Centennial Pool. Pictured (l to r) are then Trustee Tom Dubelbeis, a former member of the advisory board; then Advisory Board Member and current Village Trustee Pat Gira; Advisory Board Member Sharon Grill, Advisory Board Member Oriano Pagnucci, Advisory Board Member Adam Perminas, former Recreation and Parks Director Dennis DeLance, former Village Trustee Penny O’Sullivan and Advisory Board Member Betsy Czajowski.

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The Village of Orland Park’s Centennial Park Aquatic Center opened in 1992 with a zero depth pool with two slides, concessions and locker rooms. The facility now includes the zero depth pool with a children’s play area, a t-pool with platform, seven slides and a lazy river. The pool area includes rental and party pavilions, sand volleyball courts concessions and locker rooms.