DeKalb Park Board leaders could be exploring what to do about the park district’s indoor facilities and outdoor athletic fields in the years to come.

At a recent public meeting, the park board was briefed on how the park district’s development of a comprehensive master plan update is going.

A comprehensive master plan, once approved, is meant to guide park district leaders in their decision-making based on a community’s future growth and development.

Among some of the highlights of the draft comprehensive master plan are opportunities for adding renovated indoor space and outdoor athletic fields.

The district previously adopted a comprehensive master plan in 2012.

Executive Director Paul Zepezauer said it’s time for the district to consider adopting a comprehensive master plan update.

He said the most recent comprehensive master plan was meant to guide park board officials for 10 years.

“We’re at the tail end of our last master plan,” Zepezauer said. “Of course, COVID hit right at the end of that. So, just trying to get everything back ... post-COVID has been a challenge for us.”

The district has enlisted the landscape, architecture and planning firm, Hithcock Design Group, to help develop its next comprehensive master plan update.

Zepezauer said the park board’s discussion went well.

“They were really looking for some feedback from the board members about how quickly some of these projects can be undertaken,” Zepezauer said.

Zepezauer said he believes the park board’s discussion set a clear direction for the district.

“I think the next step for our board is to look at doing some feasibility studies for some of our existing properties ... and really looking at what are the options are for each one of those properties,” he said.

District staff said a proposal for a feasibility study will be considered by the board in December or January.

A final draft of the district’s comprehensive master plan won’t be available to the public for review until February or March 2026.

Zepezauer said it’s still being composed.

But there remains some opportunity for the public to weigh in on the park district’s efforts to plan for the future.

A community survey had been mailed out to a select group of the district’s residents.

Zepezauer said he hopes that the district will soon be able to launch that survey on its website to allow more to weigh in.