FEATURED MEMBER

South Barrington Park District

In honor of IPARKS 20th Anniversary, we would like to feature South Barrington Park District, one of the first IPARKS Members. Thank you, South Barrington Park District for your commitment to IPARKS. We value your participation and dedication.

South Barrington Park District is located in Cook County 30 miles outside of Chicago and has served its community for more than five decades. Mr. Jay Morgan is South Barrington Park District's Executive Director and has worked for the park district for the past 20 years.

When asked about his favorite part of the job, Mr. Morgan easily replied, "I like the people. We have a great group of people in the community and on staff. We like to think of the park district as a family operation. Some of the staff members have worked here for more than 40 years. We have a lot of history together and that makes coming into work everyday a lot of fun."

Mr. Morgan has a long history with the South Barrington area. His father built the South Barrington Club when he was 12 years old. "I have had the opportunity to learn about almost every job in the park district. I mowed the lawn, worked at the front desk, spent my summers as a life guard, became a tennis pro and eventually, managed the South Barrington Club," stated Morgan.

In 1991, South Barrington Park District purchased the neighboring sports club to increase the amount of services offered to local area residents. Community members can select from a wide-range of fitness and aquatic programs specialized for adults, teens and children. Mr. Morgan elaborated, "We offer a lot of services for the size of our community. There are 1,100 households and approximately 4,000 residents. Our tax rate is very low. We receive $550,000 from taxes and have an operating budget of five million dollars. Our park district is unique in that we can generate additional funds through programming fees."

Mr. Morgan offered an example of how the park district reinvests funds into the community. "The park district received a donation of 20 acres and developed the land into a community park that includes: two artificial turf soccer fields, four tennis courts, two baseball diamonds, playgrounds, and sand volleyball courts. We hosted a community build with 80 volunteers, 90 staff members and contributions from local vendors to construct the park. We also purchased 45 acres surrounding the park to reduce the housing density, " Morgan commented.

Fiscal responsibility is important to South Barrington Park District. Mr. Morgan cited coverage and cost as the primary reasons the park district selected IPARKS. "When the South Barrington Club was purchased by the park district, we needed more liability coverage. IPARKS is a good fit for us and a financially good decision."

South Barrington Park District also fully utilizes the loss control services made available via the IPARKS Online Resource Library. Accessible from www.arpcoresourcelibrary.org, the Library features thousands of complimentary multimedia resources such as videos, DVDs, and CD-ROMs. Additionally, members have access to thousands of documents, PowerPoint presentations, online training and recommended links. Mr. Morgan commented on the online services, "the safety videos were a good refresher course and we will definitely order more."

"The South Barrington Park District serves our growing community and we strive to grow along with community needs. We are proud to offer residents services and recreational programming close to home. I am a lifetime resident of this community and plan to retire here. It is a wonderful place to live," Morgan concluded.

For more information about South Barrington Park District, we invite you to visit their web site at www.sbpd.net. If you would like to learn more about how IPARKS can benefit your park district, please call 1.800.748.0554 and ask to speak with an IPARKS Representative.