founded in 1951. In 1953 the village opened Roemer Park, a Little League baseball park with features such as a concession stand and scoreboard. By 1962 the Wilmette Baseball Association had more than 900 youth players (including Bill Murray) and 52 teams. Also in 1951, Wilmette Public Library built a new facility, replacing the facility that had been built in 1905. The North Shore Line ceased its service in Wilmette in 1955. In 1968 the Curtis Curling Center, a state-of-the-art curling facility, opened in Wilmette. Its construction was funded by a $400,000 donation from Darwin Curtis, a millionaire from the neighboring town of Winnetka and a $39,000 grant from the Wilmette Memorial Trust. Between 1962 and 1968 the area that was once No Man's Land saw massive redevelopment. Several high-rise apartment towers and town homes were built, and the Spanish Court shopping center was renovated and renamed Plaza del Lago. Village Centennial and National Bicentennial The village marked the 1972 centenary of its incorporation with festivities on the lawn of Village Hall. The Curtis Curling Center hosted that year's United States Men's Curling Championship. In 1973 Wilmette adopted a new comprehensive plan (which had been developed between the years 1967 and 1971). In 1974 the village adopted a new zoning ordinance designed to adhere to the vision of the comprehensive plan. Centennial Park, named in honor of the village's centenary, was opened that year. The Park District had begun buying the land for Centennial Park in 1967, but did not finish buying the last parcels until 1972. In 1971 the Park District proposed building a sports complex at this site. Previous plans to construct a sports complex (featuring a swimming pool, children's park, bath house/warming house, natural ice rink, and a toboggan hill) on the site of the Community Playfield were blocked afters voters narrowly opposed it in a 1968 referendum. However, the Park District was successful in its proposal for a sports complex at Centennial Park, which was approved by voters as part of a $1.78 million parks renovation plan in a February 1971 referendum. The sports complex was completed in 1972 with a public swimming pool and indoor tennis complex. In 1974, following lobbying from local ice skating and ice hockey enthusiasts, the Park District broke ground on an expansion project that added an indoor ice complex and additional tennis courts to the sports complex. Centennial Ice Center