Bolander Park and its recreation offices are going to be staying for one more winter, as the sale of the land will not be effective until sometime in 2015.
The land — featuring administrative office buildings, a storage shed, a park, and an outdoor ice rink — covering over five acres, — has been owned by the Village of Libertyville since the mid-1990s, after buying it from the Bolander Construction Company. The property is located on Winchester Road, adjacent to Butler Park.
According to Libertyville Recreation and Sports Complex Director Connie Kowal, the village has reached an agreement with a “private developer” that is lacking only a “few small details that need to be worked out.”
Kowal added that the new developer will build a residential housing development on the property.
Up next will be the process of moving everything that is at Bolander to new locations so that they can still function accordingly.
The administrative offices that house Kowal as well as three other workers will be moved to the Libertyville Sports Complex, where, according to Kowal, there will be some architectural transitions done in order to accommodate the new offices.
As well as holding offices, Bolander is also the home to many dance classes that take place inside of its building. The classes, including hip hop, ballet, and tap, will also have to be moved to a new location, which will also most likely be the Libertyville Sports Complex, according to Kowal.
In the summertime, the park is the home base of Teen Travelers, a camp for grade school children that bikes all over Libertyville and participates in various activities; the camp will need to find a new location next summer due to the sale of the park.
Safety Town also takes place in Bolander’s parking lot, where the lot has been designed to teach children about intersections and crosswalks. Kowal is reviewing options as to where the program will be moved to.
Finally, there is the hockey rink on the property that has been the biggest issue amongst Libertyville residents. The rink includes boards, fencing, and lights, and is used all-year round. It is used for ice hockey between the months of December and February, when it is frozen, but can be used in the warmer months as well with rollerblades.
Kowal, a big hockey fan himself, has said that moving the rink “has been the biggest headscratcher” but the village is continuing to search for the right location to house the beloved rink.
The rink will be frozen again this winter, hoping to build on last winter’s impressive showing with the polar vortex allowing for the most “skatable” days in the last four years, Kowal said.
Plenty of LHS students are pleased that the rink will be used again for a final season. Senior Sam Kratzer was ecstatic, saying that he “will be going there every night that he can this winter” and senior Bryan Constable added that he is “so glad that there is one more year before we all head off to college.”
