As Crystal Lake Park District debates fitness center purchase, mayor says he has $1M donor

As the Crystal Lake Park District continues conversations about potentially purchasing a shuttered Northwestern Medicine Health and Fitness Center to turn it into a community center, Crystal Lake Mayor Haig Haleblian said he has a donor ready to give $1 million to the cause.

[ Crystal Lake park board holds another contentious meeting ]

Local developer John Green gave a presentation during a park district board meeting last month saying that the 80,000-square-foot facility on 8 acres has a purchase price of $4.2 million. That comes out to be $50 a square foot, Haleblian said.

Green has been under contract to purchase the building since the beginning of this year, but he said he would “be happy to assign the contract to [the park district] and step aside.”

The Northwestern Medicine Health and Fitness Center, at 200 Congress Parkway, closed in 2022 because of declining memberships. A Huntley location remains open. Crystal Lake parks officials first entertained the idea of turning Northwestern’s Crystal Lake fitness center into a community center before it closed, with hundreds of residents supporting the idea. But efforts by the park district quickly ended after the board was told that Northwestern was interested in leasing it out short term but nothing beyond that.

During a park board meeting Monday, Huntley resident and former municipal finance adviser Steve Willson was invited to formally present his opposing perspective on the potential purchase. Self-described as a “raging moderate,” he argued that the area does not need another fitness facility and would “financially damage” nearby businesses like the Crystal Lake Sage YMCA, which also has swimming pools.

“You make financial decisions based on the ongoing costs versus the revenues,” he said. “The likelihood is high that you will lose money on this.”

Representatives from the Sage YMCA could not be reached for comment.

But park board Commissioners Cathy Cagle and Michael Jacobson said the park district’s interest is in creating a community center, which they said would be vastly different from another fitness facility.

Jacobson also raised questions as to why Willson was brought in to speak on the matter, as he is not a Crystal Lake resident.

“Presentations in prime-time spots on the board meeting agenda are traditionally used to present in-depth information by experts,” Jacobson said.

Willson said he has many decades of experience in municipal financing.

During public comments, Haleblian spoke in favor of the purchase, pointing to other communities that have thriving communities centers, such as his hometown, Hinsdale.

“There were 150 seniors playing cards. There were kids practicing for a play. There were kids playing basketball. There were kids at a culinary school, and I could go on and on. The place was rocking,” he said.

Haleblian also announced that he knows a donor who is willing to give $1 million to help with the payment, and could probably “get another $1 million.”

“I don’t care if a gentleman from Huntley says, ‘It’s a bad deal; it’s a white elephant,’” the mayor said. “It may be a white elephant, but it’s a $4 million white elephant that could really do a lot of good for this community. It’s about vision, folks.”

Cal Skinner, a resident and operator of the McHenry County Blog, suggested that the city should purchase it rather than the park district.

The mayor and the City Council “do not have to have a referendum to borrow money. They’re a home-rule unit,” Skinner said. “This park district does have to have a referendum, and I would predict that it would fail.”

Haleblian said the city could potentially look into purchasing the building if the park district passes on the offer. Other options could be available, such as a nonprofit coming in to take it over.