History

The Dundee Township Park District is located in Kane County, approximately 40 miles west of Chicago, along the Fox River. It comprises 31 neighborhood and community parks, two championship golf courses, two outdoor swimming pools, an indoor pool, a zoo, a senior center, two recreation centers, two fitness centers, and 879 acres of land for the diverse Dundee Township community. For almost 60 years, the Park District has provided an array of recreational activities and community events. It serves the communities of Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, and portions of Elgin, Barrington Hills, Hoffman Estates, Gilberts, and Algonquin.

The Park District was established in 1952 to serve the community's recreational needs. The formation of the Park District resulted from a successful referendum campaign motivated by the need to have a permanent administrative body to oversee the operation of Edmund H. Haeger Memorial Pool located in Lion's Park. The referendum passed on November 22, 1952, followed by the first Park District meeting on June 16, 1953, at Fireman's Hall in East Dundee, and the opening of Haeger Pool on June 12, 1955. In the beginning, the Dundee Township Park District used village and school district facilities for programming before opening the Besinger Community Center in 1959. This facility housed the Senior Center until it moved to its new location in 2003.

Since its formation, the Dundee Township Park District has continued its tradition of providing recreational programs, state-of-the-art facilities, and beautifully landscaped parks.

The Dundee Township Park District has had a lasting impact on the surrounding communities and will continue to plan for the future and provide recreation for generations to come.

During the 1960s, Thresher Pool was constructed on land that L.W. Besinger donated. Then, Randall Oaks Park opened in 1964 and included the petting zoo, which is still a thriving operation more than 45 years after its opening. The Randall Oaks Golf Course was completed with 18 holes available for play in June 1966.

In the early 1970s, the Park District purchased Library Hall, a historic building constructed in 1895. This became the district's administrative offices until 2020 when they moved to the Rakow Center. Over the decade, the Park District purchased the Sleepy Hollow Pool in 1972 and two air structures that were used to enclose Haeger Pool and some tennis courts at Randall Oaks Golf Course. However, these structures existed until the early 1980s. At the end of the 1970s, the Park District received grant funds to purchase 130 acres to add to the existing 27-acre Randall Oaks Park. A few years later, a community building was constructed and dedicated to Alfred S. Price, whose family owned and operated the farm before the Park District's purchase.

In 1986 the Park District began considering the construction of a Recreation Center. Construction on a 50,000-square-foot Recreation Center began in July 1988. The pool for the Recreation Center was completed in early 1989, and the building was opened to the public in September of the same year. The Recreation Center is located on Route 68, just north of Route 25 in Carpentersville.

In 1992, the Recreation Center added the addition of a Fitness Center, and the pool was enclosed, thus; making it useable year-round. Also, in 1992, a new clubhouse was completed at the Randall Oaks Golf Course. This clubhouse contains a pro shop, locker rooms, bar and grill, banquet facilities for up to 200 guests, and an enclosed cart storage building. The Park District purchased the Bonnie Dundee Golf Course course in 1992, and in 1995 the course was renovated to include an underground irrigation system and an additional parking area on the golf course grounds. In 1994 the purchase of Raceway Woods was finalized and the Park District received two grants in 1999 and 2000 to work on the restoration of the property. By 1993, the Park District created Operation Outreach. Initially, the program serviced at-risk youth by offering recreational programs at various schools, primarily in the Carpentersville area. Operation Outreach programs offer day camps, sports programs, and a youth center for children in grades 1 through 6. Since 1997 these programming needs have been met by the Boys & Girls Club of Dundee Township. The Park District helped establish a Boys & Girls Club, which began operating at the Morningside Youth Center in 1997. The Boys & Girls Club is a separate entity from the Park District but receives administrative and facility support from the Park District. In 2006, the Club had over 1,200 members and operated at Perry, Golfview, Lakewood, and Carpentersville Middle Schools. There is also a Teen Center at the Knox Unit on Wakefield Avenue in Carpentersville. During the last few years in the 90s, the district built a community picnic shelter, playground, basketball court, and trails at Randall Oaks Park. More recently, baseball and football fields have been added to the park. As part of the Randall Road widening project, Centerville School was moved to Randall Oaks Park in June 1999. A cooperative effort between the Park District, Kane County, and the Dundee Township Historical Society saved the historic one-room schoolhouse, and restoration to the interior and exterior of the building was completed.

In the 2000s

The Dundee Township Park District continued to flourish well into the new millennium. As the population increased in the surrounding communities, so did the demand for more parks, facilities, and programs. In 2000, the Greater Raceway Woods Ecosystem Partnership was established. This partnership of adjacent land owners created a long-range plan for the property. The partnership received $400,000 from the Army Corp of Engineers to implement the plan.

Construction of the new senior center began in the spring of 2002.

The Park District added a few parks from 2000-2007, including Prairie Meadow Park, Shenandoah Park, Liberty Elementary School Park, Rolling Hills Park, Carrington Park, Silverstone Lake Park, Grandview Park, and Deerpath Park.

A cooperative venture with School District 300 was agreed upon in the winter of 2001. The Park District contributed funds to enlarge gyms to provide additional programming areas at two new schools. Algonquin Lakes and Liberty Elementary School gyms opened in the fall of 2002.

The construction of a new senior center began in 2002 and was completed in 2003. It was developed as an addition to the existing Recreation Center on Barrington Avenue. The facility comprises a large multi-purpose room with a stage, arts and crafts rooms, library and computer rooms, and a kitchen.

In the spring of 2002, the Park District began work on renovating Randall Oaks Golf Course. This work concentrated on revising the front 9 holes of the course, incorporating 45 additional acres into the course. The renovation addressed some of the safety concerns and added additional yardage to the course. The project was completed in the summer of 2003. The intent was to have golf course revenues eventually reimburse the Capital Project Funds for the cost of the improvements.

In 2002, the Park District also completed a land exchange with the Village of West Dundee. This brought an additional 6 acres of park land adjacent to Tartans Glen Park, where two soccer fields were constructed. Also, within the Village of West Dundee, two major park renovations occurred at South End Park and Grafelman Park. Both of these projects were funded by the Village of West Dundee.

In 2008, an intergovernmental agreement between the Township and the Park District was established for a long-term lease of Bartel's Property. The programming of the property is currently in the planning stages.

Grande Pointe Park in West Dundee was leased and developed in 2010. White Oak Park in Carpentersville was acquired in 2009, with plans to develop the property in 2010.

In 2009, property at the Brunner Family Forest Preserve was leased from the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. The programming of the leased property is currently in the planning stages.

In 2011, construction began on a new recreation facility, the Randall Oaks Recreation Center, located on the township's west side near Randall Oaks Park. The Randall Oaks Recreation Center opened in August 2012. The new facility houses a fitness center, double gymnasium with an elevated walking track, multi-purpose rooms, and a west side branch of the Fox River Valley Public Library District.