The Wheaton Park District closed the driving range at Arrowhead Golf Club for the rest of the 2026 season so crews could build a range that sells balls in January. A contract, an equipment lease and a business plan are already in place.
The district's own paperwork shows the project is aimed at winter. The money went to heat, the budget left out short-game upgrades, and the revenue forecast counts on a range that keeps earning after the season ends.
What Closed on Sept. 8, and What Replaces It
Construction began on September 8, 2026, on the footprint of the existing range. The current Driving Range and Practice Chipping Green will stay closed through the end of the 2026 season, and the new facility is expected to open in February 2027.
According to the Arrowhead Golf Club driving range page, the new range will have:
- 24 covered, heated hitting bays with Toptracer virtual golf technology
- Individually controlled thermostats in each bay, which the club cites as the reason the range can stay open year-round
- Up to six people per bay
- Food and beverage service with a social gathering area
- Indoor restrooms
- Individual and group lessons, plus bay rentals for corporate events and parties
The club describes Toptracer as camera-based tracking. It reports distance, ball speed, launch angle, trajectory and accuracy for every shot, and it also offers games, competitions and virtual rounds on well-known courses.
Bucket prices are already posted: $5 small, $10 medium, $20 large and $30 jumbo. Hours are listed as 6 a.m. to sunset most days. A sunset closing time matters most in exactly the months this range is built for. On a short December day, a 6 a.m.-to-sunset range gives morning golfers a lot of time and after-work golfers very little.
The District Paid for Heat and Postponed the Short Game
The general construction contract was bid in pieces. The base bid covered the core work, and the board could add optional upgrades called alternates. The Park District's August 19, 2026 bid memo shows which of EP Doyle's prices the district kept and which it left out.
| EP Doyle bid item | Price | In the recommended contract? |
|---|---|---|
| Base bid | $2,415,000 | Yes |
| Alt. 1: Upgrade from tube heaters to Bromic heaters | $152,854 | Yes |
| Alt. 2A: Rework the short-game practice area | $460,581 | No |
| Alt. 2B: Add a sand trap for chipping practice | $36,096 | No |
| Alt. 3: Service yard gate to match the building | $52,081 | Yes |
| Alt. 4: Signed range entry gate at the parking lot | $55,630 | No |
| Alt. 5: Architectural path lighting | $54,873 | No |
The base bid plus Alternates 1 and 3 adds up to the recommended $2,619,935 contract. Most of the optional money went to better heaters. The largest alternate, a $460,581 rework of the short-game area, was left out. That stands out because the district's original July 2025 project memo listed a "redesign & expansion of current short-game practice area" among its goals. The memo also said that if Alternate 2 had been chosen, its substantial completion date would have been June 15, 2027.
The heat priority also shows up outside the EP Doyle contract. The covered bays are a prefabricated structure from Cover the Tees, approved at $693,036 at the March 18, 2026 board meeting, ahead of the general contract. The 2025 memo described the plan as "Enclosures for tees with heat by Cover the Tees or equal."
The Revenue Math
The district explained its reasoning when the project started. The July 16, 2025 memo opens by saying that "Driving ranges outfitted with ball-flight tracking technology and food & beverage service are a rapidly growing trend in the golf industry." Arrowhead staff visited two ranges with the setup they wanted to copy, Sanctuary Golf Course in New Lenox and Prairie Bluff Golf Course in Lockport. Both have 24 covered, heated Toptracer bays with seating and food and restrooms close by.
The August 2026 memo itemizes the anticipated expenses:
- FGM Architects schematic design: $23,500
- Cover the Tees: $693,036
- Toptracer equipment lease: $52,905
- EP Doyle: $2,619,935
- FGM Architects, later phase: $321,923
- Geocon materials testing: $33,717
- Owner-furnished items: $470,600
The total is $4,215,616. The August 19 board agenda also listed a separate 10% contingency of $261,993.50 on the EP Doyle contract, which is not part of that total. Capital funding is listed as $2,000,000 in fiscal 2026 and a proposed $3,000,000 in fiscal 2027.
The same memo summarizes the business plan's projections:
| Projected annual line | Revenue | Expenses | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driving range | $929,625 | $195,470 | $734,155 |
| Food and beverage | $551,150 | $189,120 | $362,030 |
| Combined | $1,096,185 |
For scale, the Wheaton Sentinel reported that the district's current fiscal-year budget, adopted Dec. 17, 2025, estimated tax revenue at $17.6 million. The range's projected combined net is about 6% of that figure. If the business plan holds, the itemized $4.2 million cost equals roughly four years of projected net. Both numbers are projections and depend on how many people come to hit balls between November and March.
From First Design Contract to February Opening
The board approved the project in stages over more than a year. The district's August memo lays out the sequence:
- July 16, 2025: FGM Architects hired for schematic design at $23,500.
- January 17, 2026: Concept reviewed at the Capital Projects review meeting.
- March 18, 2026: Cover the Tees contract approved.
- June 3, 2026: Board subcommittee agrees on a September 8 start.
- June 17, 2026: Toptracer equipment lease approved.
- July 17, 2026: General contractor bids opened. EP Doyle bid $2,415,000 on the base and IHC Construction bid $3,056,900.
- September 8, 2026: Construction begins.
- January 18, 2027: The contractor's goal for completion.
- February 2027: Expected opening.
That leaves a few weeks between the January completion goal and the February opening. The project has also already had changes. A $66,555.25 Change Order #2 with EP Doyle was on the agenda for the board's October 21, 2026 meeting. The Wheaton Sentinel's preview of that meeting covered the change order alongside the levy discussion. Board packets on the district site will show any further change orders before the bays open.
Arrowhead said bay rental pricing and the food and beverage menu would be posted on or about November 1, 2026. Once the party and corporate rates are up on the driving range page, they will be the first clue to how the bays will be priced for groups.
Arrowhead in the Meantime
The rest of Arrowhead stays open while the range is fenced off. The course posts dawn-to-dusk hours, subject to frost. Arrowhead Restaurant & Bar currently posts hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with the kitchen closing at 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The next fixed date on the calendar is the Thanksgiving Day buffet at Arrowhead Restaurant & Bar on Thursday, November 26, 2026. Reservations are required. If you're planning the rest of the season around town, our Wheaton fall calendar covers Cosley Zoo, the French Market and the newer Front Street restaurants through Thanksgiving.
Once the bays open, the first winter will show whether golfers in Wheaton will pay for a heated Toptracer bay in February.
New amenities like a year-round range help shape how a neighborhood feels day to day. Keeping track of them is part of how Kathie Frerman advises Wheaton homeowners. If you'd like to know how recent park and amenity investments show up in your home's value, request a free home valuation or schedule a consultation, and Kathie will walk you through what she sees in Wheaton right now.
