DISCOVER THE LATEST CHAMBER NEWS & BUSINESS TOPICS!

Shutting down for a few weeks in August is routine for the Oak Brook Park District Family Aquatic Center. Each year, staff completes routine maintenance and deep cleaning while many residents and members are away on last minute summer vacations or getting ready for school.

But this year’s shut down is anything but routine. Beginning August 14, the park district will begin a complete renovation of the Family Recreation Center locker rooms. The project includes improvements to the adult locker rooms, male and female locker rooms, and the addition of an “Inclusive Family Locker Room.”

 “In evaluating the responses from the comprehensive community survey as well as ongoing requests from members, we had clear direction to prioritize locker room improvements,” says Oak Brook Park District Executive Director, Laure Kosey. According to Kosey, the new facility provides a solution for mixed gender and mixed age families that visit the aquatic center for recreational swimming, lessons, swim team or events.  Currently, the park district does not allow children over the age of 6 to enter the opposite sex locker room. “A dad that brings his 7-year-old daughter to the pool would have to allow her go through the female side by herself,” said Kosey. “Many parents are not comfortable with this and it poses a problem for parents with children that have special needs.”

The park district expects that the Inclusive Family Locker Room will significantly alleviate crowding in the male and female locker rooms during peak hours, providing an overall better experience for all patrons.

The Inclusive Family Locker Room will be located down the center of the current locker complex and will include ten secure changing areas. One of the changing areas will feature an ADA accessible toilet, shower, and adult changing table to better accommodate families that have older children with special needs or patrons with limited mobility that require home health aides.  Two of the new changing areas will equipped with infant changing tables.

The project will also add a convenient new “rinse off shower” located on the pool deck just outside the entrance of the Inclusive Family Locker Room. The cluster of showers will allow families to quickly rinse off multiple kids in their swimsuits so they can easily towel off and change in a dry room.

The current locker rooms will be undergoing upgrades as well. The shower areas will be retiled and a new epoxy floor will be installed. Patrons will also enjoy new carpeting and lockers throughout the facility.

The locker room renovation project budget is $1.1 million and the Family Aquatic Center and locker rooms will be closed from August 14-September 15. The aquatic center will reopen on September 16, and there will be limited access to showers and locker rooms until the end of November. Staff anticipates that the project will be complete by the end of November 2017.

The Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce’s Young Business Leaders (YBLs) group enjoyed a lively evening of professional development and networking hosted at The Clubhouse on July 20, 2017. The event featured an address by Ken Greene, Senior Director of Comcast Business. Mr. Greene’s remarks provided great insights on the lessons learned throughout his career spanning an early military term in the U.S. Air Force through his successful and varied career within the telecommunications industry. YBLs enjoyed the rare opportunity to ask their own follow-up questions to this industry leader. At the event, the group of twenty-seven was also presented with unique YBL scholarships and discounts for professional development from Chamber partners Olivet Nazarene University, Sandler Training and Indiana Tech. Additionally, YBL member and Experis’ employee Sarah Frank shared a leadership book review, while other YBL members reported on the activity at the recent Economic Development Council meetings they have been exclusively invited to attend. At the end of the formal program, YBLs broke into smaller pods to discuss leadership challenges and to get to know each other over refreshments provided by The Clubhouse.

YBL Co-Chair Shannon Kelly, Associate Merchant at Ace Hardware, shared, “I’ve really enjoyed seeing the YBL group evolve over the past couple of years I’ve been with the Chamber. We have found ways to expand the group and get more involved with the community which has been great! We love the support we have received from other companies around Oak Brook and are excited to continue growing personally and professionally through YBL.”

The YBLs, aged 25-35, have been selected by their member organizations in recognition of both their strong individual performance as well as their contributions to teams and demonstrated leadership potential. The Chamber’s YBL group meets quarterly and offers opportunities for continuing professional development as well as opportunities to participate in civic efforts to strengthen the Greater Oak Brook business community. The group’s next meeting will take place at the newly opened Michael Jordan’s restaurant on October 5^th. For further information, please contact Program Director Tamryn Hennessy at [email protected].

The Oakbrook Terrace Park District is ready to welcome curious minds and eager learners, as it gears up for its 2 main preschool age programs in September: Little Sprouts Early Learning and 2’s and 3’s Just for Me.  All learning experiences are recreation based and provide a safe and fun environment for children.

Little Sprouts preschool is offered to children ages 3 and 4, while 2’s and 3’s is tailored toward 2 and 3-year old children. All activities foster self-confidence and individual growth, and expose children to early literacy, science, colors, shapes, crafts, story time and more!

Classes begin Monday, September 11^th. To learn more about their preschool program, and to enroll, please visit their website or call: 630-627-6100.

You can help children by making a donation of new school supplies and delivering them by noon on July 28th to the following locations:

People’s Resource Center

201 S. Naperville Road

Wheaton

People’s Resource Center

104 Chestnut Avenue

Westmont

State Rep. Patti Bellock’s Office

1 Cass Avenue #203

Westmont

Naperville Bank & Trust

5 S. Washington Street

Naperville

Naperville Bank & Trust

1205 S. Naper Blvd.

Naperville

Naperville Bank & Trust

555 Fort Hill Drive

Naperville

No child should have to go to school without supplies. Check the list above and donate what you can. Give them a good start to the school year. Thank you!

Join the Oak Brook Park District for a VIP tasting & tour experience!

Ticket price includes a sample of 5 beers, appetizers, souvenir koozies, and a meal ticket redeemable at the Summer Concerts in Central Park. This is a leisurely 1-mile walk through Central Park.

Participating restaurants will host each tasting station, providing the food and beer: Maggiano’s, Labriola, Michael Jordan’s Restaurant, Redstone American Grill & Cuvee Wine Cellars.

Tours end at the Central Park Pavilion where you will be able to redeem your ticket for a delicious dinner and VIP seating for our 7pm concert performance featuring Piano Man, a Billy Joel and Elton John Tribute). Our 2017 Summer Concerts in Central Park season is presented by Drury Lane. See the full schedule of performances here.

Tours will be limited to 30 people per event, and will be available at 5:30pm, 5:45pm, 6pm, 6:15pm, 6:30pm, and 6:45pm.

Cost is $22 for Oak Brook Park District residents and $28 for nonresidents.

Register online now!