Editing Wilmette, Illinois (section)

===21st century===
November 7, 2000, residents voted in favor of spending up to $10 million in general obligation bonds to reconstruct the pools at Centennial Park. Work on replacing the 30-year-old pools began on August 12, 2001. The pools were reopened ten months later on June 8, 2002.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

[[File:Wilmette Metra Station.jpg|thumb|right|In 2001 a new station house was constructed.]]

Wilmette again rebuilt its commuter rail station in 2001.

After the [[September 11 attacks]] the Wilmette Park District established the "Reach Out Wilmette" campaign in an effort to contribute to disaster relief fundraising. Special events (including a variety show, a 5K Run, aerobics classes, and a Blood Drive) were held. The campaign ultimately raised more than $10,000 in aid funding.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

[[File:2002 Winter Olympics torch relay route between Chicago and Miulwaukee.png|thumb|left|Wilmette was a stop on the [[2002 Winter Olympics torch relay]] route segment between Chicago and Milwaukee (highlighted in red box).]]

On January 5, 2002, the Olympic Torch passed through downtown Wilmette on its route from Chicago to [[Milwaukee]] during the [[2002 Winter Olympics torch relay]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Cheer on the Olympic torch, editorial |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois|date=January 3, 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Olympic torch will bring its light through Wilmette on January 5th |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wlmette, Illinois |date=October 1, 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Olympic light hits town; Torch relay to pass through downtowns on Saturday morning, map of route |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=January 3, 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Photo Sandy Pifer in downtown Wilmette carrying the Olympic flame |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=January 10, 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=North Shore basks in spirit of Olympics, photos runners with Olympic torch |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=January 10, 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Photo children along the route of the Olympic Torch relay last January |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=December 26, 2002 }}</ref>

In late 2001, a coalition of open land advocates, historic building preservationists and proponents of senior/affordable housing banded together to petition the Park District to purchase the 17-acre Mallinckrodt College property (which contained a former college building alongside 14 acres of open land). The group petitioned the village to hold a referendum on purchasing the property. Mallinckrodt property was under contract to be sold by [[Loyola University Chicago]] to a developer that intended to raze the historic 1916 structure and build a tract of single family homes. On March 19, 2002, a referendum was held, and Wilmette residents vote in favor of granting the Park District the authority to issue up to $25 million in bonds in order to purchase, improve, and maintain the Mallinckrodt College property. The village ultimately acquired the property for $20 million in September of that year. In May 2003 the [[Illinois Department of Natural Resources]] awarded the Park District a $2 million grant through the Open Land Trust program in order to preserve 5.22 acres of the property. In July 2004 a sales agreement was reached in which the Park District transferred ownership of the building to the Village of Wilmette. The village would then aim to sell the structure to a developer that would convert it into condos for senior citizens.<ref name=parkdistrict/> Under the sale agreement with the developer, the Park District has retained a 7,000 square foot space on the ground floor of the building's south wing of the building, which they operate as a community recreation space named The Mallinckrodt Center.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The Mallinckrodt Center contains the new home of the Meskill Senior Center.<ref name=parkdistrict/>