The Mahomet-Seymour School Board and the Village of Mahomet Board of Trustees met on Sept. 16 to discuss the future of 13 Acres and Middletown Park.
The two boards met in 2019 and 2020 to discuss the potential future sale of Mahomet-Seymour Junior High and 13 Acres Park to the Village of Mahomet for $750,000.
With the Bulldog Blueprint community engagement project upcoming, the Mahomet-Seymour board decided to hold onto the facility until it decided what its future needs are. But the sale of 13 Acres was still on the table for $225,000.
That sale fell through when the Mahomet-Seymour School Board did not muster the two-thirds majority needed to dispose of public property.
At that time, the Village said that it would look elsewhere for land.
By June 2021, the Village purchased 19-acres of land near Middletown Prairie Elementary and Conway Farms from developer Darrin Peters and Vertical Towers Partners, LLC for $600,000, including a $250,000 donation by Peters.
The Village hopes to develop a MAARC Center on the property, but will likely need additional tax dollars or donations to fulfill that vision.
The Village was recently able to secure, though, $725,000 of tax-payer money through a state grant, earmarked for public infrastructure, to build tennis courts for community use. The Village hasn’t done an analysis of what the courts or parking would cost.
Since the demolition of tennis courts at 13 Acres Park, which were in need of repair, the Mahomet-Seymour School District has established a girls’ tennis team, which practices and competes off-campus. The school district has included tennis courts in several development plans over the years but has not been able to fund the project.
The proposed tennis courts would be located at Middletown Park where Middletown Elementary used to be along Division Street. Mahomet-Seymour Athletic Director said six courts would be optional for IHSA competitions.
Village officials said they would be able to make plans for 13 Acres Park after they gain possession of the land, which Mayor Sean Widener said is in need of a master plan, which could include parking and taking care of some drainage issues. Widener also said that pickleball may also be an option.
BLDD Architect Damien Schlitt said that he doesn’t see the district using 13 Acres or Middletown Park as the community develops the Bulldog Blueprint. Mahomet-Seymour currently uses the two spaces for extra-curricular activities and for some in-school activities, though. The school or Village has not talked about the value of 13 Acres.
Director of Mahomet Parks and Recreation Dan Waldinger said that the school would continue to have the right to use the properties for at least 5 years under a current Intergovernmental Agreement, which grants access to share facilities between the two entities.
A community member in the audience asked why tennis courts were being prioritized over the call for a public swimming pool in Mahomet. Village officials cited grants that were distributed in the 1960’s for pools while Mahomet enjoyed swimming at Lake of the Woods. Public pool facilities may have come to be that way in Champaign County, but Rantoul built its current facility in 2002, Champaign in 2006, and Urbana in 2013.
She also asked if the school district would receive any compensation other than the development to help with the lack of funds needed to continue with facility development. The district presented several tax referendum options in session three of the Bulldog Blueprint.
The Mahomet-Seymour School District would get nothing more than the development of tennis courts in exchange for the land. The land at 13 Acres was appraised at $350,000, and the district estimates that in order to fix the drainage issues, it would cost around $200,000.
The Village has its sights set on the construction of tennis courts beginning in 2022 should the deal go through. The Mahomet-Seymour School Board is expected
