Niles park upgrades near completion ahead of summer season
The countdown is on — the City of Niles is about 60 days from cutting the ribbon on its new playground, splash pad and gazebo at Waddell Park.
The goal is to celebrate its opening Memorial Day weekend.
'Seeing that we're in the home stretch, it's finally nice to see it all come together,' Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz said.
Crews continued working on the project Thursday. Mientkiewicz says a new restroom facility and security cameras still need to be installed.
'When all the playground mulch goes in, all the landscaping, the final site work and grading, it's really going to look phenomenal,' Mientkiewicz said.
It's all part of $4.6 million in upgrades to Waddell Park — $2.5 million of which was paid for with federal grant money. The improvements include drainage work, concrete repairs and field turf.
'We'll top it all off with a brand new road going through Waddell Park in Sharkey Drive,' Mientkiewicz said.
He says excitement has been building around the project. People have already shown interest in renting the facilities and hosting tournaments.
'That's going to be the next step in this process — to really use Waddell Park as a destination, use it as an economic development driver,' Mientkiewicz said.
Officials will be holding a first pitch ceremony at Wilder Field on the new turf ahead of the first varsity baseball game of the season Friday afternoon.
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