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Thomas Thornton was Superintendent of Parks and Recreation in Arlington Heights from June 1952 till November 1980. This photo of Mr. Thornton was taken in 1973. On June 9, 1925, the Arlington Heights Park District was formed and the first Park District meeting was held June 18, 1925, with Commissioners Nathaniel Banta, Henry Klehm, Eugene Berbecker, Albert Volz, and Julius D. Flentie. When Thomas Thornton worked for the Park District in 1952 the controversy began over the selling of the Railroad Parks. The Village attempted to purchase several parcels of the land from the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad to widen Davis Street in order to provide off-street parking. However, the Park Board and Village citizens were adamantly opposed to the loss of the parks and the matter was dropped. Meanwhile, the Chicago and Northwestern began a program of liquidating non-revenue producing property, including the Railroad Parks and, in 1958, offered to sell five of the eight parcels to the Village (two parcels had already been sold and the railroad station stood on another parcel). The Village held an unsuccessful referendum for the purchase of the Railroad Parks for parks and parking in 1959. Emotions were running high both for keeping the Railroad Parks and turning them into much needed parking for the downtown business section. In the meantime, the Arlington Heights National Bank quietly purchased one parcel of land from the Chicago and Northwestern and began installing a parking lot for their customers in 1960. Cries of outrage were heard throughout the Village but, in 1961, the Village purchased four parcels of land for parking expansion. By the mid 1960s the Railroad Parks, which served as the catalyst in the formation of the Arlington Heights Park District, had been turned into parking lots. By 1957, a fieldhouse, pool, maintenance garage, ball diamonds, and tennis courts were completed at Pioneer Park and the Arlington Heights Park District consisted of two community parks, seven neighborhood parks and many small lots in Stonegate and Scarsdale. During the mid 1950's, the little league baseball program started by the Park District had grown too large for the Park District staff to handle alone. To date, the boy's baseball, girl's softball and boy's football programs continue to be organized and operated by a parents association, now known as the Arlington Heights Youth Athletic Association. The Park District has cooperated with this group since its inception by maintaining athletic fields, constructing additional fields, and leasing office and storage facilities to the Association. After a long struggle to gain access to the Nike Site, in May 1979 the Arlington Heights Park District opened the Arlington Lakes Golf Club with the golf course and restaurant open to the public. In 1971, the Park District had a survey taken of District residents to determine their attitudes towards the Park District's Commissioners, staff, programs, and facilities. One of the conclusions of the survey stated that residents were interested in an artificial ice skating rink and an indoor tennis facility while they were not interested in tax rate increases. In June and August of 1972, the Park Board issued $735,000 in revenue bonds by ordinance to finance the construction of an indoor tennis facility and Forest View Tennis Club opened in 1973 with six indoor tennis courts. In 1976, the Park Board approved a $577,000 installment contract for construction of eight handball/racquetball courts at Forest View and the air-conditioned courts were opened in 1977. In December of 1972, the vote went against the Park District's referendum to issue $2,550,000 in general obligation bonds for park improvement and development including the construction of a fieldhouse at Dryden Park, land acquisition, the construction of a north side maintenance garage, and the construction of an indoor ice rink. In the mid 1970's the Park District was facing a financial deficit. The annual income from taxes was not keeping pace with rising costs. The District began to cut expenses through elimination of programs and personnel and was forced to postpone all except emergency repairs. As the situation became more critical the Board organized a Citizens Park and Recreational Financial Plan Committee to study the problem and make recommendations. The recreation program of the 1970's saw continued expansion to serve all age groups, all interests and all areas of the Village with the opening of Camelot, Frontier and Heritage Parks and swimming pools in 1970. Olympic Indoor Swim Center opened the same year and the District's popular learn-to-swim program became a year round activity. The operation of Olympic was unique in that the Park District and School District 214 shared the costs and the pool time. On June 22, 1975, the Arlington Heights Park District celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a "Golden Summer Celebration" at Recreation Park. A full day of old time games and contests, an ice cream social, a balloon launch, free admission to the swimming pool, and musical concerts brought Arlington Heights residents to Recreation Park to share in the celebration. All this during the time that Thomas Thornton served the Park District. This item is part of the collection of the Arlington Heights Historical Society (http://www.ahmuseum.org). |
