The Park District continues to follow our capital improvement plan for our parks and facilities. In accordance with this plan, this Spring the Board approved planning services for the creation of a Master Plan for South Park.
The playground at South Park is next in line for improvements on our playground plan. Instead of looking narrowly at just the playground, the District wanted to review the park's amenities and better plan for the future. The planning process has been accelerated in response to a current Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant opportunity that was recently announced and has a short deadline of September 30. The Park District is working with the Upland Design architecture firm to master plan South Park and identify improvements that may be funded through the OSLAD program. The district held a virtual public meeting on August 30 to review the current amenities at the park and collect input on potential improvements to be considered.
The following improvements are included in the OSLAD grant application: renovation of the playground, additional of a picnic shelter with restrooms, resurfacing of three tennis courts and addition of two pickleball courts, addition of a walking path, renovation of the exisiting shelter, and addition of a rain garden. Once the grant is awarded, additional public meetings will be held to gather specific feedback regarding the playground design.