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Let's work together!
A shared-facility concept in Naperville makes By Mary C. Fernandes Intergovernmental cooperation is a clumsy name for a rather strange and wonderful beast. Strange because it doesn't appear as often as it could, and wonderful in what it achieves when it does appear. Take Naperville, for example — a fast-growing town on the outskirts of the nation's third largest city. Who could have imagined the results when intergovernmental cooperation reared its head there? Park-schools project The agencies involved are the Naperville Park District and two local school districts. Because of land-donation ordinances enacted by the city in the early '70s, the park district had a wealth of land — more than 80 parks that encompass some 1,200 acres. However, what the district had in land it lacked in facilities that could accommodate programming for all residents. The district needed buildings. When two local school boards passed referenda to build elementary schools, one in each district, the park district executive staff wondered, "Could a deal be worked out?" The answer was yes, and with a few minor problems, the deal proved to be a success. Specific requests The park district was the aggressor. District staff approached both School District 203 and 204 boards and suggested they not build the normal elementary school-size gymnasium or multi-purpose rooms in their new buildings. Instead, they were asked to build what Glenn Kost, the park district's director of planning, calls the "prototype junior high gymnasium." The gym would be larger — big enough to hold a couple of volley-ball courts side by side, basketball hoops, movable bleachers and means to separate the gym into smaller sections. The park district would pick up the tab for any extra expense that the enlarged plans required. In turn, it would get priority use after school, in the evenings and on weekends. Naperville already had access to a number of junior high gymnasiums, but those schools use their buildings for after-school and evening sports, special events and different activities. However, elementary schools are typically not involved with after-school programs. There's a natural "down time" which the park district could utilize. Complex negotiations The concept seems simple, but the reality took some work. Dealing with both boards at the same time was not easy. In District 203, the staff was much less enthused about the idea than the school board. The business manager was concerned about added operational cost. District 203 also changed Illinois Parks and Recreation 32 January/February 1988 superintendents in the middle of negotiations. On the other hand, the staff at District 204 supported the idea, but the board was lukewarm. The board also feared the increased operational cost, and board members expressed concern about losing control. The park district tried to allay those fears by agreeing to pay all capital expenses related to the oversized gym. In addition, it agreed to pay operational bills above the multi-purpose room's estimated cost. That included heating, lighting, janitorial and maintenance. The district also agreed to let the schools have priority use sometime during non-school hours. District 203 has the gym at its Ranch View School one night out of seven, and 204 has the Brookdale School gym two nights each week. Both parties keep master calendars. The park district notifies the schools about the days and times of district events at the start of each program season. It can also request use of the gym during the school's priority time, if it's available. Communication and mutual consideration help prevent scheduling mix-ups. Cost determination Once the park and school districts agreed in principle, the park district specified its building requirements and let the school districts handle the bidding, which determined cost. District 203 had a junior high with a "prototypical" gym that met the park district's needs. School board members let two bids for what was to become Ranch View School — one for a school with a multi-purpose room, and one for a school with a gym. The park district paid the difference between the bids - about $200,000.
District 204 designed its school and gym based on the park district's projected needs. The board let only one set of bids, and the park district paid for the gym based on the extra square footage. The gym at Brookdale School cost about $250,000. Special concerns All parties had to take a closer look at the language of the initial agreement when the schools billed the park district for operational/ maintenance costs. The contract stated that the park district would pay anything above normal multipurpose room operational cost. Both school boards interpreted that statement differently.
As a result, the park district got wildly disparate bills for what were basically the same schedules at Brookdale and Ranch View. If the park district applied the philosophy of user fees, it would have had to charge different prices for the same activities at different locations.
All parties agreed that the operational costs would be billed based on the percentage of extra space in the gym to the entire building.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 33 January/February 1988 Working together The square footage of the gyms, above and beyond normal multipurpose rooms, is about seven percent of the square footage of the schools. Therefore, the district pays seven percent of operational costs. Continued cooperation The adjustment has worked well, and it is part of the agreement that governs a third school (River Woods) under construction in District 203. The fact that a third project is under way indicates how well the cooperation has worked. River Woods is an expanded version of the Brookdale and Ranch View Schools. The school will have a small multi-purpose room adjacent to the gym, and the park district will pay about 30 percent of that room's cost. This latest venture will cost about $330,000. Kost says, "It's obvious the park district is pleased with the results. "We've got three-quarters of a million dollars invested in this
were asked to build the 'prototype junior high gymnasium.' thing," he said. Kost adds that the park district's Master Plan calls for one more cooperative agreement, and thinks there might be a fifth. What are the benefits? "To the community," says Kost. "We're money ahead and facility ahead." And programming is convenient to where people live; the schools are at each end of the community. "The only thing we give up is ownership — it's a shared facility," says Kost. Although the park district had a pretty good relationship with individual schools before the cooperative agreements, it now has access to more schools for regular programs.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 34 January/February 1988 |
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