 The
Parks Commission, Village staff, and the Village Board
received our 21-page write-up last Friday which lays
out plans for the new facility and its programs see
below.
Keith introduced
the task force members and described the topics in the
presentation. In addition to the presenters, the paddle
community was represented by Patti Doolas, Mark Gupta,
Jim Mercurio, Brett Paulson, and Ted Shepherd. The reporters
from The Doings and Suburban Life were absent from this
meeting.
Fresh from
winning the Nationals in Cleveland, Mary opened the
presentation with a well-organized description of the
goals for the new facility. She introduced the idea
of an environmentally-friendly facility which Andy Stephens
detailed later in the meeting.
Tina spoke
next and enthusiastically related that fundraising pledges
have already tripled the target amount suggested by
the Parks Commission.
 Next,
Paul walked through the project budget and Keith the
recommendations for annual fees.
Bill wrapped
up the presentation with a discussion of the role that
the Hinsdale Platform Tennis Association would play
in years to come. The high point of the night occurred
when Bill made an inadvertent reference to Kubrick and
called co-ed paddle “mixed couples night”.
It broke up what had been an overly serious presentation.
The commissioners
spent a few minutes in discussion and then entertained
a motion to adopt the complete set of recommendations
from the task force. To our surprise, the vote went
unanimously in favor of the plan. The most surprising
comments were from two people previously opposed to
the project. Bob Schaller remarked on the thoroughness
of the proposal. Steve Sperry said that despite having
been the commissioner most opposed to the project, he
had “slowly been won over”.
Some
further discussion happened after the motion passed,
mostly building on Bill’s point about increasing
recreational use of the paddle facility.
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