Executive director Ray McGury, who has led the Naperville Park District as its executive director for more than 13 years, has resigned from the agency’s lead role effective close of business February 1 to pursue another opportunity. Under his leadership, the District achieved a multitude of accomplishments and received a wide range of awards and recognition, including national accreditation from the National Park and Recreation Association. He was responsible for the completion of many key projects that expanded District services including, most notably, Nike Sports Complex, the remediation of Sportsman’s Park, Fort Hill Activity Center, Knoch Knolls Nature Center, renovation of Centennial Beach, and the development of the 95th Street Community Plaza and Wolf’s Crossing Community Park.
The Park Board of Commissioners has named Brad Wilson, the District’s current director of recreation and facilities, as the District’s next executive director. Wilson has grown his experience and leadership during his 23-year tenure overseeing the Recreation Department, which consists of the programming, facilities, customer service, aquatics, and volunteer divisions. Additionally, he has been primarily responsible for the largest portion of the District’s budget and has managed major projects such as the implementation of new registration software, the addition of programming at several park developments including Nike Sports Complex, Frontier Sports Complex, Commissioners Park and Wolf’s Crossing Community Park and the addition of indoor programming at the Fort Hill Activity Center, the Nature Center and the 95th Street Center. He has held primary responsibility for widely visible initiatives including the Community Interest & Opinion Survey. In recent years, Wilson has won several awards recognizing his accomplishments and leadership including the Community Impact Award presented by the Illinois Park and Recreation Association during the 2020 statewide conference held in Chicago and the Paul Harris Fellow distinction from the Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown in 2017.
Wilson’s contract will be presented to the Park Board of Commissioners for formal approval at their next meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 at the Fort Hill Activity Center.
—Naperville Park District