What's Happening in Hoffman Estates, IL…

A meeting was held at the Club at Prairie Stones fitness center in order to discuss a proposal to end indoor tennis.

The Hoffman Estates Park District owns the fitness center. Brian Bechtold, who is the director for golf and facilities, used poster printing to show how the space that was reserved for indoor tennis should be used in order to better serve the fitness center’s members. In total, 20 people attended the meeting and some of them questioned the wisdom of the redesign, which will cost approximately $500,000 and replace the tennis courts with other multipurpose zones.

Out of the center’s 3,000 members, only 85 of them pay the extra $20 monthly fee for tennis. Kate Boetto led the opposition for the new design plan, but after the meeting she had to concede that it was likely that the plan will go ahead because the center cannot afford to keep losing $10,000 every year on underutilized facilities.

The final design for the plan will go before the board committee next Tuesday, October 15. The full board will review the plan on October 22. If it is approved, tennis will no longer be available at the fitness center from January 1, 2020.

Craig Talsma, who is the district’s executive director, says that the district is exploring alternatives that will allow tennis players to keep playing. Negotiations are ongoing with Hannover Park and South Barrington that will allow Hoffman Estate residents to use the larger tennis facilities at those locations.