Schaumburg rec center expansion OK'd

A $2.2 million expansion of the Schaumburg Park District's Meineke Recreation Center that will include a new dance room and larger fitness center is expected to be complete by the time swimming pools reopen for next summer.

Schaumburg village trustees Tuesday approved the site plan change making it possible for the park district to add the additional 5,500 square feet to the facility at 220 E. Weathersfield Way.

But the project involves a reallocation of space just as much as it does an expansion, Schaumburg Park District Executive Director Jean Schlinkmann said.

The first phase of the project - the addition of a second floor to the original part of the building - is expected to be finished by the time winter weather arrives.

Once that's complete, the rearrangement of space within the building will consume the rest of the project, Schlinkmann said.

The new second-floor space will house the larger fitness center and be served by an elevator to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

New offices for the recreation center will be located on the site of the current fitness center after it's been abandoned, Schlinkmann said.

The old office space and an adjoining nursery will be eliminated and replaced by a large dance room.

"The Community Recreation Center has a popular dance space," Schlinkmann said. "Now we'll have one on the other side of town as well."

The project also will involve some renovation to the common areas of the building as well as the men's locker room.

The gym and its own second-floor area are not involved in the expansion project, Schlinkmann said.

The projected deadline for all work to be completed on is Memorial Day weekend, when the park district's swimming pools reopen.