MCC: Complex won't hurt lake

McHenry Community College said Wednesday it will increase the amount and quality of water flowing from its campus to Crystal Lake when it builds its $26 million Health, Wellness and Athletic Complex.

Local residents had raised concerns that the complex, which will include a 6,500-seat baseball stadium, classrooms and tennis courts, would compromise the quality of water in the lake.

Because the existing campus and its future extension fall within the Crystal Lake watershed, MCC must show that it can maintain or improve the quantity and quality of water that flows to the lake from its campus.

An MCC consultant said at Wednesday's meeting of the Crystal Lake planning and zoning commission that water flowing to the lake would more than double when the complex is built.

"By developing the site, you'll have more recharge than under existing conditions," said Jeff Schuh, senior vice president of Patrick Engineering Inc.

Schuh also said MCC would maintain the quality of the water by not using phosphorous-based fertilizer -- the main threat to the lake and its wildlife -- and by including basins on the site that filter out sediment from the water.

But some residents remained concerned that MCC's request to build facilities or parking on up to 50 percent of its campus would threaten the future of Crystal Lake.

"Do not give away the future of the lake," former Crystal Lake Park District Commissioner Leona Nelson warned.

The standing-room-only crowd of more than 50 assembled in Crystal Lake village hall, many of them local residents, thinned to about 30 as Wednesday night's hearing went past 9 p.m.

The planning and zoning commission must approve MCC's master plan for its campus and grant the college's request to build on 50 percent of the campus before MCC can begin expanding.