Some of the contractors who built Splash Landings in 1999 came back to Park Center this year to take apart what they had built. Steve Neill, the Glenview Park District's division director of recreation and museum services, mentioned that detail to the Journal & Topics while explaining why the indoor aquatic center needed rebuilding. The pool sits inside Park Center at 2400 Chestnut Avenue. Most of the original mechanical systems had reached the end of their lifespan. Years of airborne chlorine had corroded windows and metal fixtures throughout the building.
The pool reopened in September with a taller slide, new geysers and a rebuilt play structure. It also now runs its activity pool and its lap pool as two separate environments, each with its own controls, and the fall schedule treats them almost like two facilities that share a front desk. For anyone planning a cold-weather afternoon there, that split decides when to go.
One natatorium, two climates
The updated facility uses separate water, temperature and chemical controls for the main pool and the lap pool, the Journal & Topics reported. The Park District's reopening announcement explains why that matters. The activity pool can now stay warmer, and the lap pool can be set to suit swimming and other activities.
The rest of the renovation builds on that split. On the family side, the District describes:
- a zero-depth activity pool that slopes to 3½ feet, with a rebuilt interactive play structure
- a taller, faster slide with dark and translucent sections, extending over the pool and ending on the pool deck
- 27 water geysers and a dump bucket
- accessible family changing rooms with adult changing tables
On the other side are a six-lane, 25-yard lap pool and a fully refurbished therapy pool with new lighting, filtration and flooring. Throughout the building there is new sound baffling, better air quality, and two air-handling evacuation benches meant to clear chlorine odor from the deck. That last upgrade targets the same airborne chlorine that had been eating at the building's metal for more than two decades.
"We really wanted to bring the fun," Neill told the Journal & Topics. Most of the money went to the less visible work.
What it cost, and who paid
The project carries two published price tags. The Journal & Topics reported a $10 million overall budget, made up of $6.8 million in direct construction costs plus design and engineering fees. The Park District's reopening page calls it an $8.4 million project.
State money covered $3.3 million. That was a $2.8 million grant from the Park and Recreational Facilities Construction Program plus $500,000 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Planning began in 2023. Demolition started in January, and construction began once the Illinois Department of Public Health issued permits in February. W.B. Olson Inc. managed the work across 13 trade bid packages.
The schedule follows the split
The two sides of the natatorium also keep different hours. The lap and therapy pools open early. The weekday schedule starts at 5:30 a.m., and both run 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The activity pool and slide open far less. Here are the play-side hours from the District's fall schedule flier, alongside the group swim lessons that run Oct. 6 through mid-December:
| Day | Activity Pool & Waterslide | Group Swim Lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 4:30–8 p.m. | None |
| Tuesday | 4:30–7:15 p.m. | 4:30–7:15 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 4:30–7:15 p.m. | 4:30–7:15 p.m. |
| Thursday | 4:30–8 p.m. | None |
| Friday | 4:30–8 p.m. | None |
| Saturday | 1–4 p.m. | 8 a.m.–12:45 p.m. |
| Sunday | 1–4 p.m. | 8 a.m.–12:45 p.m. |
All of the slide-and-geyser time fits into weekday evenings after 4:30 and a three-hour block each weekend afternoon. Weekend mornings belong to lessons. The District warns that lessons take up at least two to three lap lanes, so a lap swimmer arriving on a Saturday morning or a Tuesday evening will find the pool crowded in a way a Monday or Thursday evening is not. For families, Monday, Thursday and Friday give the longest play window, running until 8 p.m.
The lesson lineup covers StarTots for ages 6 months to 2 years with an adult, preschool lessons for ages 3 to 5, youth lessons for ages 6 to 12, and Stroke School for qualifying 6- to 12-year-olds. Private 30-minute lessons are $38 for residents and $48 for nonresidents, and availability depends on the instructor.
What a visit costs, spectators included
Splash charges a daily facility fee of $10 for residents and $15 for nonresidents. The District is explicit that this is a facility fee, not a swimming fee. It applies to everyone on the pool deck, including a parent who only watches from the edge. Children under 24 months get in free during Public Swim with a paying adult.
That rule adds up quickly for a family. A resident parent with two children ages 3 and up pays $30 at the door, whether or not the parent gets wet. The alternatives look like this:
- 20-visit punch card: $140 for residents, $240 for nonresidents. That works out to $7 or $12 per visit. The card is valid for one year, can be shared within a household, and works for Public Swim, Lap Swim or Warm Water Therapy.
- Park Center Health & Fitness membership: Eligible memberships are accepted at Splash. The District's rate page lists Core individual memberships at $54 a month for residents and $64 for nonresidents, plus a $75 initiation fee.
At the punch-card rate, the same three-person resident visit costs $21 instead of $30. A single card covers six of those visits plus two more single entries. Because the card also works for lap swim and the therapy pool, a household where one adult swims laps in the early morning and the children come back after school can draw both kinds of visits from the same 20 punches.
Rules that decide who goes where
The age and height rules follow the same split between the two sides of the building:
- Children under 9, and swimmers of any age who need a lifejacket, must be supervised in the water at arm's length by someone 16 or older.
- Slide riders must be at least 40 inches tall.
- Lap Swim is for ages 13 and up, unless a younger swimmer passes a swim assessment approved by a manager.
- Warm Water Therapy and the spa are generally limited to ages 18 and up.
The supervision rule means a caregiver of a child under 9 is in the water, not on a bench. That is worth knowing before a weekend visit, because the facility fee is the same either way.
Pool parties follow the activity-pool calendar too. Public party slots on weekends run 1–3, 2–4 and 3–5 p.m., which lines up with the Saturday and Sunday open hours. Private swim parties run 4:15–6:15 p.m. and cost $575 for residents or $675 for nonresidents for up to 30 guests, with a $50 add-on for up to 60.
Park Center's late-fall calendar beyond the pool
The weekend schedule also overlaps with two non-aquatic events in the same building this season.
Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot, Saturday, Nov. 21, 9–11 a.m. Teams of one adult and one child ages 8 to 13 pay $10 per pair. Registration closes Nov. 17. The event ends two hours before the slide opens at 1 p.m., so a family can do both on the same Saturday.
5th Annual Festival of Trees, Saturday, Dec. 5, 4–6 p.m. Tickets are $5 per person, and children 2 and under get in free. The Park District's December calendar describes decorated trees on display through December, with Santa, the Grinch, carolers and children's activities at the event. The festival begins as the Saturday open swim ends at 4 p.m.
Lessons run through mid-December, and the District's January and February 2027 event calendars list nothing yet. Check the Splash Landings page for current hours before a winter visit, since some older Park Center pages still describe the pool as closed.
At Audra Casey, we follow the community details that shape daily life in Glenview and across the North Shore, from a renovated pool's winter hours to the newest additions at Park Center. To get those updates along with our market reports, request the Northbrook Market Report & pre-market access.
