The Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District and the Rochelle Township High School District are in talks on a potential agreement that could result in a shared-use facility at Helms Park in the future, Park District Executive Director Jackee Ohlinger said June 18.

Both entities discussed the shared-use facility talks at their monthly board meetings June 15. RTHS District Board President Jeff Tilton said the talks were born out of a need for more indoor space for warm weather extracurricular activities from October-April each year. A survey was recently done of RTHS extracurricular coaches and advisers on space availability at RTHS. Securing indoor space was the chief concern seen in the survey, Tilton said.

Ohlinger said that since the opening of The REC Center across the street from Helms Park five years ago, the park district has come to better understand the potential for the facility and the growing needs within the community. In recent years, the park district engaged in strategic planning efforts, including community surveys, feasibility studies, stakeholder meetings and ongoing evaluations of recreational needs.

“Through this process, one recurring theme has emerged: The need for additional flexible indoor space to better serve a growing variety of users,” Ohlinger said. “As part of these discussions, the park district and the RTHS district have explored opportunities to build upon our longstanding partnership. One concept currently under consideration is the development of an additional field house facility that could support both school athletic programs and park district programming while also helping to create greater availability within The REC Center for members, community groups and recreational activities.”

The park district has also held meetings with local organizations, community leaders and potential funding partners to better understand how the field house project could better serve Rochelle for generations to come, Ohlinger said.

The area being looked at for the potential field house is the southeast corner of Helms Park, across the street from The REC Center. The park district will be sending out a request for qualifications to contractors in the next couple of weeks for design build services, Ohlinger said. No agreement regarding the project has been finalized between the park district and RTHS district.

“We’ve been doing studies for years to try to reimagine how the [Helms Park] space and property could better serve the entire community,” Ohlinger said. “The potential agreement with the RTHS board is ongoing. We’re trying to figure out how we can work together to see better use of our tax dollars and one facility we can both utilize. We envision it as something similar to what we have here at The REC Center, a large open space with a variety of surfaces that can serve a variety of activities.”

No amenities that are currently at Helms Park would be lost if the field house were to be built, Ohlinger said. The southeast corner of Helms Park is currently the site of eight courts used for tennis and pickleball. Ohlinger said the Helms Park project would still involve tennis and pickleball courts, but a smaller number. A potential agreement between the RTHS district and park district would see the community be able to use the RTHS tennis courts, Ohlinger said.

Further public discussion on the potential project will be held at the park district’s next monthly meeting on Monday, July 20, Ohlinger said. The REC Center’s growth in the past five years has brought a need for more indoor recreation space to the forefront, she said.

“With each year at The REC Center, we’re growing and building,” Ohlinger said. “We have a higher ceiling and more potential to serve. There’s more interest every year to utilize an indoor facility. When you’re in Northern Illinois, there’s a lot of rainy, windy and snowy days. Indoor spaces are always sought after.”

Ohlinger said the cost of a potential field house project will become more clear after information is received from contractors in a request for qualifications. The aspect of the potential project that’s most exciting to her is taxing bodies coming together to provide additional amenities for the community.

“This project would set up Rochelle for generations to come,” Ohlinger said. “This would be a legacy building for the community. Over the last several years, we’ve been meeting with different organizations and community leaders. We saw the same recurring theme. If we all come together, we can do this for Rochelle.”

Ohlinger said having an expanded recreation hub near The REC Center on Jones Road is “ideal.” The park district has found the location to be “very accessible” to those walking, biking and driving in the community, she said. Additional parking at the Helms Park property, which has been another desire often seen in community feedback, would be part of a field house project.

Ohlinger said she’s thankful for the park district’s growing relationship with the RTHS district as the potential project goes forward.

“Our working relationships with the school district and the city will continue to grow,” Ohlinger said. “Superintendent Jason Harper and I have worked for the past several years on shared usage and the relationship between the school district and park district continues to grow and get stronger.”