Glencoe, Northbrook to share water amenities

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Logan Rosengard, 7, of Northbrook dives into the pool during a 2009 member appreciation day at the Northbrook Sports Center. |(Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 24, 2012 8:36AM

This summer, two of the coolest hot-weather amenities of both Northbrook and Glencoe will no longer be exclusive.

The towns’ park districts have completed a deal to allow Northbrook residents to use the Glencoe beach, and for Glencoe residents to use Northbrook’s pools — both at the lower rates reserved for residents.

In addition, Glencoe residents will be able to enroll in swimming classes in Northbrook pools at Northbrook resident rates, and Northbrook residents will get Glencoe rates to rent sailboats on the Glencoe Beach.

“This is really about providing another opportunity for our residents,” said Elsa Fischser, the Northbrook district’s director of leisure services.

“It just makes sense, proximity-wise,” said Don Van Arsdale, Glencoe Park District executive director. “For our residents, it’s a close hop to Meadowhill Pool, and the same for Northbrook residents, to our beach.”

The deal is for season passes and 10-use passes only. Daily non-resident charges won’t change, both districts say, to keep the new program from slowing down admission and tracking systems. The swap is a one-season trial, but officials don’t expect

The Meadowhill Aquatic Center, at 1501 Maple Ave. in Meadowhill Park, includes four separate pools, featuring lap swimming, a corkscrew body slide, a kids’ wading area, and a three-board diving pool. The Northbrook Sports Center Pool, in West Park at 1730 Pfingsten Road, has similar amenities but on a smaller, one-pool scale.

Glencoe has one of the suburbs’ largest Lake Michigan beaches at the end of Hazel Street, with sailboat and kayak rentals and lessons, and handicapped-accessible.

The deal, closed days ago in a letter of agreement, was initiated by Glencoe. The district’s board and staff, having heard anecdotally that Glencoe residents wanted pools as well as beaches, polled beach users last summer, said Steve Nagel, Glencoe’s director of operations.

Of 91 completed surveys, 66 percent said a swap would be a good deal for taxpayers and patrons. About 21 percent said they were concerned about too many non-resident users on the beach.

Officials of both districts say they can accommodate more users.

“We have (extra) capacity, and they have capacity,” Glencoe chief Van Arsdale said.

A change in Glencoe policy may help make crowds a non-issue. During the peak months of July and August, there will be two lifeguards this summer instead of one, and the area between the buoys where swimming is allowed will approximately double, Nagle said.

The extra lifeguard cost will total about $7,600, Nagle said.

The Northbrook district will also expand possibilities at Meadowhill that will give more time to welcome swimmers. For years, the aquatic center has been closing between 5 p.m. and 6:30 most nights, and that will end.

“I don’t know why they did this” in the first place, Northbrook’s Fischer said.

She said the use of the pools by summer campers will also be spread out more efficiently, and Sports Center hours will be extended.

Officials in both districts say that the changes were for resident use, not for new patrons from the other town, but they’ll make it easier to accommodate more users.

Fischer said Northbrook pool rates will probably drop a little next year. “Membership stayed the same or decreased slightly,” she said. “Based on surveys, the feedback we got was that the price was a little high. In a tough economic time, we tried to price ourselves accordingly.”

Glencoe rates will rise slightly. Both districts’ acquatics rates will be available soon in upcoming print and on-line brochures.

The deal gives residents amenities at lower costs that they can’t get at any price in their own districts. Swimming lessons are almost impossible in the lake, because there’s no edge for learners to hang on, Van Arsdale notes. And there’s also an obvious advantage in 82-degree water.

Conversely, there’s no place to sail in Northbrook. There are no big waves in the aquatic center, or sandy beaches poolside.