A city staff-driven request to discontinue renting out meeting rooms within the Naperville Municipal Center to outside organizations prompted concerns from representatives of a number of different organizations.
No direct action on the rentals was taken as the issue was deliberated at a city council meeting Tuesday, Dec. 16, but a forthcoming report is expected to outline the feasibility of allowing outside meetings on dates and times when the municipal center would otherwise be open.
Security, declining usage, and complexity of reservations
Marcie Schatz, assistant to the city manager, outlined the reasons behind the requested cessation of outside rentals in a memo to the city council.
One of the overarching concerns, Schatz indicated, is related to building safety and security — most notably, outside regular business hours.
“The municipal center is not staffed in the evenings,” Schatz wrote in the memo. “This creates significant concerns related to oversight, building operations, and emergency response. Risks associated with property damage and personal injury are difficult to mitigate when staff cannot ensure accountability or monitor activities on-site.”
Schatz, in her memo, also indicated declining use was a factor that played into the recommendation. A decade ago, 900 meeting room reservations were booked at the municipal center; today, the number reportedly is closer to 200 reservations.
“The COVID-19 pandemic normalized virtual meetings, likely contributing to the decline,” Schatz wrote.
Other factors, such as “challenges related to the frequency of bookings” and “other ambiguous policy areas” are taxing from an administrative standpoint, Schatz indicated, and were additional reasons to recommend the change.
Schatz listed several alternatives within the community to the municipal center for meeting room rentals, including properties under the auspices of the Naperville Public Library, Naperville Park District, Naperville School District 203, and Indian Prairie School District 204.
In a Q&A document, Schatz indicated 62 specific outside organizations have rented meeting room space within the municipal center from Dec. 1, 2024 to Nov. 30, 2025.
Concerns about alternatives raised during public comment
City officials received oral and written public comment from a number of people representing outside organizations that have found the municipal center an ideal spot to hold meetings within one of the rooms.
John Brubaker of the Lisle Township Democratic Organization was among the speakers who shared concerns. If the municipal center were removed from the equation, Brubaker said few options would be on the table within Naperville for groups with 50 or more attendees to have a meeting within the community.
“The building and its amenities belong to the residents of Naperville,” Brubaker said.
Resident Tim Messer shared similar sentiments as he offered feedback on the proposal at the Dec. 16 meeting.
“I understand the need for security in a changing world, but it always felt like this is the people’s building,” Messer said. “We paid to build it, we pay to maintain it, and we should be able to use it — like anything, with certain rules and restrictions, of course.”
Jane Burke of Naperville Preservation Inc. said the group has used municipal center meeting rooms for its events, which draw anywhere from 30 to 90 attendees.
“We understand the city’s concerns for both safety and fiscal responsibility,” Burke said. “However, we want to urge you not to take away this benefit of meeting rooms here at the municipal center for the citizens of Naperville.”
Resident Marilyn Schweitzer, providing written comment, said the elimination of the meeting rooms would create challenges for the outside organizations.
“I oppose this,” Schweitzer wrote. “From my experience, I believe schools, libraries, park district, and any other city resources cannot adequately support the additional requirements of the 62 groups listed in the council Q&A.”
A potential compromise is on the table
In the absence of an outright elimination of meeting rentals, the council on a 6-3 vote backed a plan to instead consider a continuation of the amenity, but potentially with more guardrails in place.
Mayor Scott Wehrli received the majority support to direct city staff to assemble a report at a future meeting that will outline the logistics of permitting the groups to use meeting rooms solely on dates when municipal events are already scheduled within the center in the evening hours. Use during normal business hours also is a part of the proposal.
“The building is staffed for those meetings, with security to make sure the building is safe,” Wehrli said. “I think that would be a reasonable compromise for us to at least test to see how it would work. I don’t see it being as any real initial cost for staffing since folks are already in place.”
Councilmembers Mary Gibson, Ian Holzhauer, and Ashfaq Syed cast the dissenting votes. Holzhauer had attempted to make a motion to disapprove of the staff recommendation outright before Wehrli issued his “motion of substitution” for the report.
“In an era when there’s less and less trust in government, the look of us sitting in our house with the Italian marble that people paid for, and can’t come into to have a meeting, is not a good look,” Holzhauer said.
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