Projects
Pirates Cove Theme Park
Elk Grove Park District
For over four decades Pirates Cove Theme Park has provided children a unique enjoyable playground experience in a local hometown atmosphere. The brain child of Jack Claes and Gary Buczkowski the governmentally run facility was conceived around the concept of themed play environments that stimulated both mind and body and is financially self-sustaining. On average, over 50,000 children visit the park on an annual basis and the fees collected for admission pay for the operational expenses of the facility. The entire facility including the five themed areas were designed by Gary and constructed with in-house staff under his direct supervision.
Rainbow Falls Water Park
Elk Grove Park District
As air-conditioning become more popular, utilization of public outdoor pool began to decrease. Faced with the need to renovate on old public pool, Jack Claes and Gary Buczkowski came up with the idea to bring the regional water park idea to a local scale facility. Rainbow Falls Water Park was one of the first governmentally operated parks of its kind in the Midwest. Utilizing water as a fun activity and not necessarily a means to cool off was the marketing strategy to make this facility viable again. In its early years families came from all over Chicago land to experience everything from waterslides to miniature golf. The entire facility was designed by Gary Buczkowski with some of the attractions being built by outside venders with the installation and construction of the park by in-house staff under Gary’s direction.
Fox Run Golf Links
Elk Grove Park District
What to do with the land being donated by a developer was the question facing the park district in the early 1980’s. With few opportunities in the area for public golf the board decided to build a public golf course. Not content with a nine hole course, Jack Claes and Gary Buczkowski were able to negotiate an additional 45 acres from the developer to build a par 70, 18 hole course. Designed by William Newcomb and Associates the course construction was managed by Gary Buczkowski. In an effort to give the course a feeling of maturity, the district bought and operated one of the largest tree spades in country. Under the design and supervision of Gary, over 1,700 trees ranging from 5” -10” in caliper were planted on the course. In addition to building the course, Gary oversaw the building of the clubhouse designed by Roland Shapanski the patio area and water fall area which designed and built with in-house staff.
Leisure Fitness center & The Jack A. Claes Pavilion
Elk Grove Park District
In the mid 1980’s, the need for recreation programming was taking off in Illinois. Prior to this point, recreation programming was done in after hours in schools and libraries. With the closing of one of the Jr. Highs in town the opportunity to lease and operate its own facility was made available to the Park District. Besides the gym space, Jack Claes and Gary Buczkowski planned the idea to convert the rest of the school into everything from an art center to party spaces. The heart of the center was the first of it’s kind governmentally run health club. The entire facility was designed by Gary Buczkowski and built with in-house staff under Gary’s direction. In 1995 the lease was scheduled to run out and the district decided to move into a facility owned by its self. Through a request for proposal process Gary put together an Architectural Design and Build team to construct the new facility know known as the Jack a Claes Pavilion. That facility has served the public well and set the standard for all other similar facilities to be built in the Midwest.
Fountain Square Splash Pad
Elk Grove Park District
The west side residents of the community long wanted a pool of their own. Given the high operation cost and low return on investment Gary Buczkowski and Jack Claes built one of the first outdoor splash pads utilizing playground like features in an open park setting. When it opened, Fountain Square soon became the regions designation cooling off place. Designed by Gary Buczkowski the park utilized equipment built by Specialty Components Systems Inc. and was installed and constructed by in-house staff under the direction of Gary.
Community Athletic Fields
Elk Grove Park District
Making room for the new Recreation Center required removal of the existing baseball/football field complex that needed to be replaced. The question was where could it go? Multiple sites were looked at studied under the direction of Gary Buczkowski. The site that was ultimately chosen was outside of the corporate limits of the community and experienced severe regular flooding. Gary worked with the team Bill Lindley and Associated to reshape the land to allow for the replacement of those lost Athletic Fields all of which were designed above the flood stage. In addition to the utilization of marginal land Gary negotiate a deal with the Village of Itasca and Hamilton Lake office park to utilize treated waste water for use as a irrigation source.
Prairie Stone Sports and Wellness Center
Hoffman Estates Park District
This high end fitness center was designed to serve the Prairie Stone Corporate Center and the residents in West Hoffman. Designed by Wright Architects and constructed by Turner Construction, the facility hosts indoor aquatics, tennis, climbing wall and a state of the art resistant exercise and training areas. Gary Buczkowski acted as the in-house representative for the project that was built on time and under budget.
Vogelei Park
Hoffman Estates Park District
The transformation of the original community park into an interactive garden was Gary’s idea to address the claim that urbanites have loss the touch with nature. Existing ball fields were transformed into garden like areas and natural areas. Vogelei Park is home to the Wings and Talons Organization which is home for birds that have been permanently injured and cannot be released into the wild. Besides the gardens which were constructed by in-house staff, the historic house and barn were refurbished under the direction of Gary Buczkowski.
Triphahn Center & Ice Center
Hoffman Estates Park District
Built as an addition to the then Blackhawk Community Center, this facility hosts two NHL size hockey rinks, a community fitness center, a dance studio, administrative office of the park district and a state of the art professional hockey team training center. The facility serves as the training center for the Chicago Wolves professional hockey team. The challenge with building this facility was the need to minimize the massive building impacts on the adjacent residential neighborhood. Designed by Williams Architects Inc. the building was built half underground and in less than 14 months and opened on schedule. Gary Buczkowski served the role of owner’s representative on the project. In 2015 the park district renovated the old portion of the center Gary Buczkowski acted as construction manager on that portion of the project.
Bridges of Poplar Creek Country Club & Outdoor event area
Hoffman Estates Park District
If it rained there was a good chance that The Bridges of Poplar Creek golf course would be closed due to flooding. To correct this problem, the park district embarked on one of the most extensive flood plain projects in the area. Designed by Lohmann Golf and Marchris Enginnering the course landscape was altered so that golf could be played up to the 100yr storm event level. A measure of the success of this project is that since its reconstruction the course has not closed due to flooding. Gary Buczkowski acted as owner’s representative on this project that was completed on time and on budget.
In addition to the course renovation Gary designed and coordinated in-house staff on the building of an outdoor event area. This area includes a gazebo, outdoor bar area, pond with waterfalls and extensive landscaping. This outdoor event area has added to the sales marketability of the banquet and meeting room operation and bottom line of the course.
Marquee Signs
Hoffman Estates Park District
With over 400,000 + cars passing by the district’s facilities on a daily basis, park district staff recognized there was a lost opportunity to market what the district has to offer the public. The previous building identification signage was out of date and didn’t present the district’s image well. With this in mind, Gary Buczkowski developed a design concept four all four of the district’s facilities utilizing the most modern digital technologies. This concept had to be accepted by the community at large if it were to get Village approval. That was done through extensive 3D modeling and presentations. To help cover the capital and operational costs, off site advertising opportunities were negotiated with the municipality and the state where by approximately $75,000 per year is now generated. Gary oversaw the construction of the four signs under the budgeted cost $1,000,000.