A $53 Million Question: What you need to know about the Skokie Park District’s midterm referendum

Jump To: The proposed renovations | Some reasons for | Some reasons against | Referendum basics | Ballot language

Early voting is underway, which means Skokie residents can now decide whether they support raising property taxes to fund the Skokie Park District’s vision of creating a brand new park and completing comprehensive renovations to one of its most heavily used existing ones.  

A question on the Nov. 3 midterm election ballot asks the more than 63,000 residents that reside in the Skokie Park District if they approve of the district issuing a $53 million bond.

If residents vote in favor of the bond, the district will develop 46 acres of parkland by renovating the Skokie Sports Park, 3459 Oakton St., and transforming a vacant industrial site nearby into a new park called Channelside Park South. 

As The Record previously reported, the project would be the largest capital program the park district has undertaken since the 1990s. New facilities would include multiple lit sports fields, an indoor recreation center, an accessible playground, bandshell and walking paths. 

If approved, the bond would raise residents’ annual property tax bills by approximately $0.129 per $100 in home value for the next 20 years. The annual property tax bill for the average home worth $450,000 would increase by $163 a year, park district projections show. 

Residents can learn more about the proposal and estimate how much it would increase their property tax bills by visiting the park district’s website. 

District staff have argued the agency is “under parked” compared to national benchmarks and the proposed amenities reflect community survey responses. Residents have indicated support for the opportunity to acquire more parkland and play on lit sports fields at night.

Other residents, however, have expressed concerns during informational sessions about how Channelside Park South could smell given its proximity to a nearby sewage treatment plant, about the park’s accessibility, and about the financial burden of raising property taxes.

The Proposed Renovations

The proposed renovations to the Skokie Sports Park include fixing the grading and drainage of the large field east of the driving range. The field would then be repainted to accommodate two cricket fields, a soccer field and a baseball field equipped with overhead lights. 

The area would also gain outdoor restrooms, a “challenge course” and shaded bleachers. The Sports Park’s driving range would gain a new golf practice green, patio and rain garden. 

The existing clubhouse near the driving range would be replaced with a new recreation center that would provide private rooms for rent and a multipurpose gymnasium large enough to fit two basketball courts or six pickleball courts. 

The site of what could become Channelside Park South is currently a “long, narrow site consisting largely of asphalt and concrete” near Oakton Street and McCormick Boulevard that has historically functioned as an underused industrial property, according to the district. 

The proposed renovations would add a bandshell, a fully inclusive playground, a 1-mile-long asphalt walking path, and a “multipurpose facility” with a patio and bathrooms. 

The all-inclusive playground would include a splash pad, a children’s maze, a “rock scramble,” a “kinetic sculpture,” and a dual-track zip-line ride. 

Skokie Sports Park would boast a total of 325 parking spaces. Channel Side Park South would provide 156 spaces, but an additional 354 spaces reportedly would be available at the nearby Vineyard Christian Church in Evanston, a district social media post says. 

The project is possible in part because the district has entered into a 50-year lease with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to maintain the property where the two parks are located for the exclusive purpose of public recreation. The lease cost $10.

Some Reasons For

The Skokie Park District currently maintains 45 parks and two gymnasiums across its 247 acres of parkland but is 38.4% below the national benchmark for park acreage and should actually have 398 acres relative to the population it serves, according to the district. 

The park district is otherwise landlocked and has few if any other opportunities left to expand, Director Michelle Tuft has previously said. 

According to the park district’s website, community engagement “over several years has identified interest in walking and biking paths, additional green space, accessible playgrounds, outdoor gathering areas, and improved sports, fitness and recreation amenities.”

The amenities the referendum proposes funding reportedly reflect public input the district collected through a 2025 survey, focus groups, public information sessions, task force discussions, newsletters, and other online and direct-mail surveys. 

The improved Skokie Sports Park could support new sports leagues, community events, summer camps, evening sports games and other programming, according to the district.

The new Channelside Park South could improve park accessibility, expand opportunities for concerts and events, create new space for outdoor programming and extend walk/bike path trail connections, according to the district.

District staff have said the added cost of operating the renovated parks should be offset by revenue from renting out the new fields, they do not anticipate needing new full-time employees, and developing both parks at the same time brought a lower quote from contractors. 

The state issued a “No Further Remediation” letter after remediating Skokie Sports Park East in 2017, and environmental studies in 2025 identified “no recognized environmental conditions” at Channelside Park South, a social media post from the park district says. 

Some Reasons Against

While some residents expressed support for the project during public informational sessions, others communicated concerns about the project and took umbrage with the fact the referendum on the ballot does not explicitly state that the district will raise property taxes.

Multiple residents also expressed concerns that sewage smells from the Terrence J. O’Brien Water Reclamation Plant, which is located less than a mile away from where Channelside Park South would be located, would regularly waft over to the park. 

On Skokie Park District social media posts, some commentators argued the district should focus on improving its existing facilities instead, obtain a traffic pattern study before launching the project, and that households are already struggling financially without the burden of higher taxes.

“This $53 million plan does not improve neighborhood parks that families actually use. Instead, it focuses on sites that are too far for most Skokie families to walk to,” Joseph Nowik, one commentator, wrote on a Skokie Park District Facebook post. 

“Taxpayers are being asked to take on 20 years of new debt for a package that leaves existing local parks unchanged and not improved while adding long-term costs to all Skokie property owners.”

The park district is waiting for the voting results before “forming an alternate plan for the properties or considering another referendum,” Tuft said in an email.

Skokie Park District Bond Referendum

Referendum Amount: $53 million

Additional Cost to Taxpayer (estimated, annual): $0.129 per $100 in home value for 20 years

Previous Referendums: 1955 — Skokie voters approved a $1.75 million bond for the district to purchase 17 park sites and construct the Devonshire Community Center. 1951 — Skokie voters approved a referendum enabling the district to levy a tax in order to fund programming. 

Referendum Purpose: To fund improvements to Skokie Sports Park, 3459 Oakton St., and transform a vacant industrial site nearby into a new park called Channelside Park South. New facilities would include lit sports fields, outdoor restrooms, an indoor recreation center, an ADA accessible playground, bandshell and mile-long walking path. 

The Ballot Question

“Shall the Skokie Park District, Cook County, Illinois, address facility and site improvements at Sports Park East, including building and equipping a new recreation center, constructing a walking/jogging path, park shelter, playground, and golf chipping and putting area, improving athletic fields, including but not limited to cricket, soccer and multipurpose fields, and adding sports lighting, and converting a former industrial site along the North Shore Channel into a new park that includes green space, an ADA-compliant playground, walking/biking path, bandshell, park shelter, and multipurpose facility, and other park improvements, and issue its bonds to the amount of $53,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?”

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