Naperville addressing noise concerns for new hockey, concert venue
Extra landscaping to block sound will be negotiated into a plan for an ice rink and entertainment venue soon to be developed in Naperville.
CityGate Centre North will be a 209,589-square-foot facility with two NHL-regulation-sized ice rinks and seating for up to 4,600 for hockey games or 6,600 for concerts.
Also included on the 27.4-acre site at 2415 and 2416 Corporate Lane on the city's northwest side is a restaurant inside the venue, a walking path and picnic grove outside and a traffic signal at Ferry Road and Corporate Lane to help drivers enter and exit the facility.
But with a venue so large planned for immediately east of the Monarch Landing senior living community, resident Richard Backer said the plan also must include a way to keep down the noise.
"We're counting on you," Backer said to city council members Tuesday night, "to at least make sure that we have a sufficient barrier from a sound standpoint."
Council members unanimously approved the ice rink plan and asked builders from a small joint venture associated with Calamos Real Estate LLC to add more trees to muffle sound.
"More landscaping would be, I think, beneficial to the residents at Monarch Landing as well because they are used to that green space," council member Patty Gustin said, referring to the empty site where the ice arena will be built. "The extra landscaping will provide a nice little buffer."
Ken Witkowski, senior vice president of Calamos Real Estate LLC and a former law enforcement official, said CityGate Centre North plans to be largely dedicated to hockey and ice skating uses with several local clubs and a semipro team. But owners are keeping their concert options open and Witkowski said they also could plan up to two concerts, expos or other entertainment events a month.
He said the concrete outer walls of the $60.2 million arena will absorb sound created inside, and security on site will "maintain proper decorum."
Across Ferry Road from the arena site is Hotel Arista on the existing CityGate Centre property, and for the hotel, Witkowski said it's already important to maintain the "silence and peace and tranquillity."
Tailgating will not be allowed in the parking lot on the site, which will include 1,119 spaces - most of them east of the building, further from Monarch Landing - nor at the shared parking across the street near Hotel Arista.
"We want to be good neighbors," Witkowski said. "We believe in Naperville."
Next steps in arena development include finalizing engineering plans and seeking construction permits. The center aims to be open and occupied by fall 2020.