The Forest Park School District 91’s Board of Education agreed to lease out the Grant-White building.

The unanimous vote occurred during the board meeting Thursday, Feb 8. 

Officials did not decide whom to lease the building to yet and said they will keep reviewing information through a committee. 

During the meeting, the Park District of Forest Park and the West Suburban Special Recreation Association presented to the board in hopes of once again relaying their need for the space that Grant-White would offer. 

“Forest Park day camp program is essential to the community and currently lacks the indoor space we need to provide to our Forest Park families,” said Jackie Iovinelli, district executive director for the park district. “Opening additional day camp programs at Grant-White would be our top priority.”

Iovinelli also listed additional programs the park district would like to offer once they have additional space including expanding their monthly after-hours programming, cooking and possibly even pickleball. Expanding the dance program would also be a great way to use Grant-White as well as hosting Special Olympics programming with WSSRA. 

During the presentation, the park district said they seek a “permanent space,” to be able to grow into what the community needs. 

The Park District also said they would be willing to share the space with the district and other park district constituents. 

“We pledge to be a good partner and a good tenant to District 91,” she said. 

Iovinelli said if the park district were to not be able to acquire Grant-White, their alternative would be to expand into green space adjacent to the main park or expand the recreation center, which would be more costly than to move into the Grant-White building. 

The Village of Forest Park was also in attendance to speak on the Grant-White building, with Mayor Rory Hoskins in attendance, along with village administrator Rachel Entler. 

The village is seeking “temporary joint use” of the space. 

According to Hoskins, the village needs to figure out a way to address the issues they have had at the community center, which they would hope to transfer some of those services to the Grant-White building. 

“That building is something of a social safety net building,” Hoskins said, adding that it operates the food pantry and is also a licensed daycare facility, which accepts state financial assistance for qualifying families. 

The community center also houses various programs including the senior center and the adult and youth job corp.

Hoskins said the village is seeking the use of the building for three to five years. 

Shannon Wood, president of the board of education, said she had learned from the district’s attorney that if they leased Grant-White for profit they “could lose their tax-exempt status,” but that amount could be added into the lease if the district chooses to go that route. 

The leasing committee, composed of Wood, Supt. of Building and Grounds Robert Laudadio, Supt. of Finances and Operations Robert Hubbird, and board member Monica Angelo. 

According to Wood, the leasing committee will be on the agenda next month. 

The committee will be giving updates every month and will begin working through an example of a lease for reference.