A facility expansion could be in order for DeKalb’s Sports and Recreation Center.

It is all part of the DeKalb Park District’s proposed master plan, meant to help guide staff and elected officials with decision-making. The park board has not yet voted on it.

District staff enlisted the planning and design practice, Hitchcock Design Group, to help prepare its master plan update a little more than a year ago.

In it, the district outlines future plans for DeKalb’s Sports and Recreation Center and Haish Gym, two of the district’s larger projects. No official timeline is set as of Friday.

In remarks to the park board, Executive Director Paul Zepezauer said plans for these two projects are not firm.

“This is just the first step in a very long process where we’re talking about projects at this scale,” Zepezauer said. “We’re still working through feasibility studies. Those would come to you first.”

The district also proposes that indoor space needs be prioritized, as part of the drafted master plan.

Bridget Deatrick, senior associate for Hitchcock Design Group, said a timeline is beginning to form for a potential expansion to the Sports and Recreation Center.

“With the idea that as soon as the end of 2027, an expansion to the Sports and Rec Center could be advanced, that would then help address some of your indoor capacity needs, taking some strain off the Haish gymnasium and be of community interest for things, like indoor walking tracks, larger gymnasium, expanded field turf, and upgraded fitness center,” Deatrick said.

The district’s proposed master plan also calls for the decommissioning of Haish Gym.

Deatrick said the facility may no longer be used in the future the way it’s used today.

“The gymnasium has some operational challenges, making a plan for how that facility can be addressed early, so that you are prepared to respond to those, is ongoing,” she said.

The park board is expected to review its master plan update further next month and put it to a vote in June.

Also at the meeting, the park board was briefed on the ongoing work to get Hopkins Park Pool back online.

The outdoor pool facility has been closed for improvements the past two summers.

Officials have said Hopkins Park Pool is undergoing roughly $14 million in upgrades. An inspection by the Illinois Department of Public Health needs to pass before the outdoor pool facility may reopen to the public.