By Floyd Gordon

The
Small Park
District

The Paxton Park District is one of the smallest in the state, of acreage owned and assessed valuation, but by no means are the problems always little. Being a non-staffed district, the burden is placed on the board of commissioners of which Paxton has one of the greatest groups of dedicated men ever assembled for this purpose.

When the Park District was formed in 1965 it was for the sole purpose of building a swimming pool, something the community of 5,000 population had needed for generations. This same year the community also built a new $1,000,000 high school and a sewage treatment system for the city. Many thought the swimming pool didn't have a chance, but forward thinking citizens passed all three, realizing the great need for a developing community.

The board meets the first Tuesday of the month in the office of attorney Robert E. Martensen. Bob also holds the offices of Secretary-Treasurer of the Board. He is young, energetic, a Boy Scout leader, and would be one of the greatest backers if he had no official ties to the Park District.

It's necessary for the commissioners to do much of the "leg work" necessary to running a successful small park district operation. Committees are appointed to oversee the pool operation, concessions and grounds. At the end of the season the summer operation is re-evaluated and every effort is made to improve the weak areas. None of the board members had any experience in this line of work until elected to the board. The trial and error method is used for "stepping stones" for the future.

Every effort is made to employ the young people of the community; however, it is a necessity to use adults in key positions. The first year of operation a teacher was employed to run the whole show. It was impossible for him to cover all areas with the attention that was necessary,

Entrance to Park District Swimming Pool.

and as a result, some areas suffered. The concession stand broke even that year and the following season a college girl was put in charge and showed a reasonable profit. The next season a school cook was hired. With wise buying and much less "free loading," profits increased by 3 times the previous season. It should be added, we were spending $200 per year buying ice for snow cones and icing drinks. The board realized an ice making machine would pay for itself and one was purchased for $600. The district will be on the profit side of that purchase this season.

It was also found that with small acreage, it's less expensive to contract for mowing rather than owning the equipment and hiring someone to operate it.

The district has always been

Illinois Parks and Recreation    8    May/June, 1971

The most popular place in town during the summer

fortunate in having a coach with the proper background from the local school system available as pool manager. For the first three seasons a member of the University of Illinois swimming team was employed. Through his guidance a Red Cross "Learn to Swim" program was formed and over 800 children have participated each summer. Four two-week sessions are offered, having children coming everyday for two weeks instead of one day a week for several weeks. The instructors say the swimmers learn faster and it's popular with parents since they can schedule vacations around swim lessons. The district is careful to see that all children of one family are scheduled in the same session. Sign up sheets are distributed through the Paxton school system. The schools give great cooperation in distributing and collecting the registration sheets after they have been taken home and signed by the parent.

The swim team has been coached by a paid employee in the past; but this year due to tight finances, this policy has been discontinued. A Swim Club is being formed and the Park District will donate the use of its pool for practices and meets, but the club must meet all other obligations.

Everything promoted must be as close to self-supporting as possible. In the past the district sponsored a slimnastic exercise class for women. The high school P. E. instructor was hired with the registration fees paying her salary and the school donating use of the gym. Chartered buses have been used for ice skating parties to the University of Illinois Ice Rink in Champaign with Commissioner Jim Ross and volunteer teachers used as chaperons. One dollar per student covered the transportation cost. This was very popular with the Junior high students, but high school students were not so interested. Norman Henderson, Athletic Director of Paxton High School, was employed by the District last summer to organize a tennis and golf instruction program for children of Junior High age and also a program for adults. Again, registration fees paid most of the wages. This was very popular and space was not available for all who wished to participate.

The local school system encourages the promotion of such activities and they made their facilities available to the district whenever possible. The two systems working together is a necessity in any community to save duplication of facilities, which the school system doesn't use during the summer months.

A former commissioner and now a member of the Board of The Illinois Park and Recreation Foundation, Herb N. Stevens donated the use of 3 acres for the development of a neighborhood park in the west section of the city. Commissioner Olin Ostendorf supervised a group of Boy Scouts in assembling and erection of playground equipment in the new park. The Boy Scouts were working to earn merit badges.

Commissioners Wilford Baldwin and Leonard Coplea are neighbors to the pool-park site and can be found on the ground most evenings repairing swing sets or taking care of other problems that require their magic touch. Commissioner Jim Ross, without any previous experience, took over the operation of the pool filtration equipment for two weeks in the absence of maintenance personnel. If you are now thinking it's an active park board—you're right!

The district could not be successful without the outstanding help of civic groups and individuals. The Lehigh Paving Company installed a new asphalt parking lot at the pool and said, "pay me when you can," and no interest was charged on the debt; the Lions Club donated $1,000 for playground equipment; the Rotary Club, an activity board at the pool; the Elmer T. Laurence Estate, $1,000 for improvement of recreation for children of the Paxton community ; Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Junior Chamber of Commerce and others have contributed to help make the pool-park an attractive addition to Paxton.

Do people use the facilities? You bet! The pool averages over 40,000 swimmers per season and the first full season more than 50,000 splashed, paddled and waded.

The district may be small, but is proud of its accomplishments and facilities.

This is one small district that gets the job done without any full-time staff. There is no magic formula, just dedication, hard work, and good solid community support.

Illinois Parks and Recreation    9    May/June, 1971