It took six meetings dating to July, but the Lisle Planning and Zoning Commission has given a positive recommendation to Benet Academy’s request for a new outdoor sports stadium and other athletic improvements.

The proposal, opposed by residents mainly from the neighboring Oak Hill South and Oak Hill North subdivisions, advances to an unspecified December village board meeting. Lisle trustees will get the final say.

“We are grateful to the hundreds of individuals and families who have contacted the village in support of our plan to modernize the Baumgartner-Gilbert Athletic Complex over the past several months,” Benet President Bill Myers said in a written statement Thursday.

“Through this deliberative process, we have refined and improved our plans. We are excited to present them to the village board and demonstrate how this transformation will serve future generations of Redwings and our broader community.”

If approved by the village board, the first phase of the two-phase improvement plan would install a FieldTurf field and a running track in a new 2,300-capacity stadium that includes a press box about 35 feet high.

The upgrade would include Musco LED lighting, a sound system, a 40-foot-tall scoreboard with video display, two storage buildings, and additional parking.

The second phase would include a two-story hospitality building and pavilion, as well as a turf field for soccer and lacrosse.

Benet attorney Caitlin Csuk noted the existing facilities “are at the end of their useful life,” and the project’s goal is “bringing Benet up to regional standards.”

Baumgartner-Gilbert Stadium has been largely untouched since 1961, five years after Benet Academy moved to the northwest corner of Yackley and Maple avenues in 1956.

Summarizing his arguments on behalf of the objectors, attorney Phillip Luetkehans questioned Benet’s willingness to stick to a limited number of events, maintained that property values would be diminished, and felt the 2,000-capacity home grandstand was too close to Oak Hill South neighbors to the east.

“I understand Benet’s desires. I don’t disagree with them,” he said. “The project’s in the wrong place on the property, the home field’s in the wrong place. These people are going to be bombarded with noise.”

A contract between St. Procopius Abbey and Benet, as well as underground infrastructure, prevents Benet from building a stadium closer to the corner of Yackley and Maple.

Plan commission Chair MaryLynn Zajdel and Commissioner William Trussel sought to enforce Lisle’s sound ordinance of a 55-decibel limit by 10:30 p.m., a half-hour after Benet had stated events would conclude.

“We’ll shut down the sound system at 10,” Myers said.

Benet also confirmed it would submit an overflow parking plan to the village and work with police on closing the Maple Avenue entrance to Cascade Drive, into Oak Hill South, to nonresidents during football games.

That was on top of 18 compromises Csuk had stated Benet made to its initial plan.

On Wednesday, the commission voted 6-1 to make the recommendation. Zajdel cast the lone no vote.

Officials said it ultimately came down to Benet’s long tenure in the neighborhood, more than 20 years before the surrounding homes were built.

“While I can appreciate the neighborhood’s concern and certainly respect and empathize,” said Steven Bauer, vice chair of the plan commission, “I feel like we’re at the best point that we can be to both respect the neighborhood’s desires and accommodate Benet’s rights as a property owner to improve its property.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251121/news/benet-academy-athletic-facilities-proposal-finally-hurdles-a-barrier/?cx_testId=2&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=5&cx_experienceId=EXZIHBUHQA6I&cx_experienceActionId=showRecommendationsZFYDCI1PLLRC25#cxrecs_s