Administrative Offices

In July 1927, voters approved by a vote of 170 “yes” to 120 “no” the formation of the Glenview Park District as a separate, distinct governmental unit with its own mission: to acquire open space for parks and to develop recreational opportunities for the people it serves. The first Board of Park Commissioners consisted of five members who not only established policy but did most of the day-to-day work of the park district—cutting the grass, collecting admissions at ball games, etc. (At that time, the park district phone number was 177.)

In its early years, the primary focus of the park board was on acquiring park land and building the district’s first outdoor swimming pool, which was completed in 1940.

In 1943, the district, by ordinance, created a recreation department and a recreation committee of citizens to plan and conduct a recreation program. This committee functioned until the summer of 1948 when a recreation board of three members, one each from the Park Board, school board and Glenview Days Community Association, was formed to direct the recreation programs.

In April of 1948, the voters authorized the district to levy a new tax for the purpose of establishing recreation programs. It was at this point that the focus of the district began to expand from primarily open space acquisition and parks maintenance to the development of programs and facilities to serve the needs and interests of the district’s growing population.

The Glenview Park District’s first administrative offices were located in the Roosevelt Community Building. The community building also served as a bathhouse for the district’s first outdoor pool, a site for recreation programs and the site of Park District Board meetings until 1954. The Glenview Days Community Association contributed about $5,000 to help complete the swimming pool and community building which opened in 1940.

In 1953, the building and property at 2320 Glenview Road, formerly the headquarters of the Swain-Nelson Nursery (2.7 acres), were acquired for use as the park district administration and central maintenance operations headquarters. In 1954, the park district administration office moved from the upstairs of the Roosevelt Community Building, where it had been located since 1940 to the office building at 2320 Glenview Road.

In December 1980, the park district and Village of Glenview negotiated a renewable 99-year lease at a cost of $1 per year to use the building at 1930 Prairie Street. This building had served as Village Hall from 1929 until 1979.

In 2011, the Glenview Park District purchased the building at 1930 Prairie St. from Village of Glenview at a cost of $10.00. The village-owned portion of Jackman Park was also transferred to the Park District.  Responding to the growth of the park district administrative staff to nearly 30 full and part time employees, deteriorating building conditions and new business and technology demands, the park board approved a plan to remodel the building at a cost of $3,300,000.

While the 1930 Prairie St. building was being renovated, the park district entered into an agreement with the Village of Glenview for the park district staff to temporarily relocate into the vacant Village of Glenview police station at 1215 Waukegan Rd. In the spirit of intergovernmental cooperation, the park district only paid for necessary improvements and utilities while using the police facility.  The park district administrative staff moved into the police station in 2011 and returned to its current location at 1930 Prairie St. in May 2012.

Swain Nelson – Marketing Services
2320 Glenview Rd.
M-F | 9 am-5 pm

In 1953, the building and property at 2320 Glenview Road, formerly the headquarters of the Swain-Nelson Nursery (2.7 acres), were acquired for use of park district administration services. In 2015, the park services team completed a full restoration and renovation of the building, which houses the internal marketing, public relations and community partnerships team.

Beginning in July of 1927, the park district was administered by an elected board of commissioners consisting of 5 members. Park board terms were established at 6 years with two or three terms expiring every two years to maintain a continuity of leadership. In April 1979, the board was expanded from 5 to 7 members.

(For a listing of Glenview Park Board Commissioners and their years of service, see Appendix I – Park Board Members and Terms of Office)

655 Zenith Dr.
847 998 8350
M-F | 7 am-3:30 pm

Park and Facility Services West complex includes a 21,300 square foot single story office and warehouse building, maintenance yard, material storage area, plant nursery and garage and parking spaces for district trucks, mowers and other equipment. The office/warehouse building also houses public restrooms and a separate community room and kitchen that can be reserved for public use.

This energy-efficient facility includes a number of “green” features – a wind turbine that generates a portion of the building’s power needs, low energy lighting, geothermal heating and cooling, occupancy sensors to turn off lights when no one is in a room, a vegetative green roof, reflective yard pavement to reduce heat buildup, a cistern to collect water from the facility roof, rain gardens and bioswales to slow rain run-off and enable more water to be absorbed into the ground, native low-maintenance landscaping, and a porous pavement demonstration area.

Even though the Glenview Park District experienced a period of tremendous expansion growing from 102 acres in 1953 to 736 acres in 2010, all park and facility maintenance operations were managed from the same small facility that had been in use since 1953. When the district acquired the 95 acres of land at Community Park West, the park board approved the building of a second maintenance facility on the far southwestern end of the Community Park West. The new facility included sufficient room for staff and equipment, a community room and restroom facilities for use by park users, and many eco-friendly amenities including a green roof, state-of-the-art geothermal heating system and a power wind turbine. Construction cost of this facility was $4,300,000 which was funded by Capital Development as well as a $21,440 grant for the green roof by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.