Photo Credit: Williams Architects
Situated on what is today the far western edge of the sea of suburbia that developed outside Chicago is the 48,410-square-foot Stephen D. Persinger Recreation Center in Geneva, Ill., which opened in late 2008 on a former farm site. Geneva is now marked by buzzing arterial roads, swathes of residential subdivisions and the ubiquitous commercial developments of late-20^(th)-century expansion.
The idea of retaining some of the area’s rural heritage seemed a logical one to the project’s design team, Williams Architects, located in Carol Stream, Ill. The concept also was appealing to the Geneva Park District, which promotes the historical, agricultural character of the former farm on a 370-acre portion of the site that the district owns.
The vision for the new community center--which was to house two basketball courts, two volleyball courts, a running track, a fitness center, locker rooms, dance/aerobics space and multi-purpose rooms--was to communicate a barn theme celebrating the area’s rural tradition. The design also would complement its setting on land of the old Peck Farm, dating from the mid-19^(th) century, and which served as a place to raise sheep to supply nearby mill operations.