Latest news with #OpenSpaceLandAcquisitionandDevelopment
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Work begins on delayed splash pad at Lakeview Park. Here's when its expected to open
A cold, wet winter and early spring, along with delays in planning and obtaining permits pushed back the opening of a splash pad at Peoria's Lakeview Park. But Peoria Park District executive director Emily Cahill said construction is moving along, and she hopes the splash pad will be completed by mid-summer. 'This will be a centrally located splash pad that will engage and entertain,' Cahill added. 'Its placement next to our Lakeview Summer Camp will also provide a great way for those participants to enjoy outdoor water experiences without having to bus kids to a different location.' The splash pad will replace the Lakeview Family Aquatic Center, which closed permanently after the 2017 season. It will be located between the Owens Ice Center and the Lakeview Recreation Center. In addition to the large splash pad, the facility also will feature a shelter, swings and easily accessible restrooms. According to a May 2024 Peoria Park District news release, splash pads are traditionally open from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year, extending the swimming season beyond that of conventional public pools. In 2023, after the Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded the park district a $600,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant to support development at Lakeview Park, Cahill projected a 'best case' scenario of last summer for the splash pad to be in operation. The Park District's May 2024 news release said the targeted completion date was spring of 2025. The district held a public input period last May to allow patrons an opportunity to offer design preferences. Once the splash pad is up and running, it will be open from dawn to dusk, Cahill said. There will be no admission charge. The district also operates splash pads at Proctor Recreation Center and Logan Park, as well as outdoor swimming pools at Gwynn Family Aquatic Center and Proctor Recreation Center. This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Park District set to open Lakeview Park splash pad by mid-summer 2025
Chicago Tribune
10-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Outdoor pickleball courts planned for Elmwood Park's Village Circle
Elmwood Park has been awarded a substantial Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant from the state of Illinois to be used for a project that is part of the village's ongoing redevelopment in the Village Circle. The $376,250 in grant money will be used to cover half of the anticipated $752,500 cost for construction of four new pickleball courts that will be built adjacent to the Aquatic Center, 2 Contic Parkway, near the Community and Recreation Center. The new courts will be the village's first outdoor courts, as pickleball is currently offered indoors in the main gym. 'The indoor program is very popular,' village manager Paul Volpe said. 'We host pickleball during the day throughout the week, and the gym is always packed with people playing. It is common to see people waiting to get on the courts.' Volpe said village officials hope to have the new courts completed by the spring of 2026. 'Because the project impacts the pool area, we will wait until the pool closes in the fall,' he said. In addition to the new pickleball courts, the OSLAD grant will also facilitate improvements to the Aquatic Center, with a new artificial turf area for sunbathing and a new playground. 'We continue to invest in our outdoor recreation opportunities because we know how important it is for the quality of life for our residents,' village President Angelo 'Skip' Saviano said. 'We've made improvements all around town, and we're always looking for new opportunities to enhance our recreation opportunities. When we can take advantage of a state grant like this, it's all the better.' The development of the Village Circle on Conti Parkway continues the momentum Elmwood Park has generated for its town center. Over the past 10 years, new luxury apartments have been developed in the area along with several new restaurants, a new community recreation center, and outdoor bocce courts, along with summer concerts, car shows, and other community events. 'One of my main goals for my administration has been to reinvigorate the business community in Elmwood Park and open up new opportunities for growth and development,' Saviano said. 'The transformation of the Village Circle is a remarkable story and we're not done yet.' Volpe said the Village Circle was a mess when Saviano was first elected in 2013. 'There were failing and shuddered businesses and dilapidated buildings falling further into disrepair each day,' he said. The building of a recreation center, which includes both indoor and outdoor bocce courts, and the addition of a fitness center and golf simulators have been major upgrades during Saviano's tenure as village president. 'We also have replaced the dilapidated buildings with new, luxury condominiums; opened a vibrant breakfast restaurant, where there was before a vacant storefront; and brought Culver's to the entranceway to the Circle, replacing what was a vacant, deteriorating and obsolete commercial structure,' Volpe said. Along with the new pickleball courts, village officials also are excited about the addition of Pompei Bakery, which is expected to open this summer at the corner of Conti Parkway and Sunset Drive. 'Pompei Bakery has been a popular and successful restaurant on Taylor Street (in Chicago) since the early 1900's,' Volpe said. 'They will offer an outstanding, already popular menu in a family friendly, brand new restaurant in town. The village is incredibly lucky to attract that type of investment.'
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Midlothian's Memorial Park to get rehab with help of state grant
Work on a major renovation of the Midlothian Park District's Memorial Park is expected to start this fall after the district received a state grant. The district learned in December it would receive a $400,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant. Midlothian is one of several park districts in the south and southwest suburbs receiving such grants. The matching grants will enable the district to renovate Memorial, one of its larger parks, at 145th Street and Sawyer Avenue, according to Edward Jung, the Park District's executive director. The district will contribute another $400,000, with that and the grant to pay for a variety of improvements, Jung said Thursday. Equipment at a playground at the west side of the park will be replaced and two pickleball courts installed. An outdoor concrete ping pong table will be installed near the playground and pickleball courts, Jung said. He said pickleball has grown in popularity among Park District patrons. A district gymasium adjacent to Park District offices at 145th and Kostner Avenue is being used for the sport, Jung said. 'The last six months or so we started with it one day a week and now it's three days a week,' he said. Landscaping around a veterans memorial at Memorial Park will be replaced, and work will include installing a pollinator garden, Jung said. Improvements will also be made to a lawn area where the Park District hosts concerts, and new fitness equipment will be placed along a path in the park, he said. Jung said the district hopes to get started with the work in the fall and have it completed by next spring. Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced last month that $55.2 million in open space grants were being awarded to 100 communities around the state. Established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1986, the grant program is meant to help communities fund land acquisition and development for parks and outdoor recreation projects. Other south and southwest suburbs received funding for park projects, including $600,000 for the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District, $600,000 for the Oak Lawn Park District, $600,000 for the village of Lemont, $600,000 for the village of Matteson, $600,000 for the village of Orland Park, $600,000 for the Worth Park District and $600,000 for the New Lenox Community Park District. Separately, the Midlothian Park District was awarded a $91,353 grant by the Morton Arboretum's Chicago Region Trees Initiative to improve the community tree canopy. The Park District's grant was among nearly 40 provided to nonprofits, government entities and other eligible groups, including Blue Island, according to a news release. Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The four-year grants, which do not require matching funds, are available for projects in communities that meet the federal requirements as disadvantaged. The funds can be used for projects to increase tree canopy, improve forest health and create or enhance community forestry programs. The Park District will conduct an inventory of trees in six parks as well as lots on Central Park Avenue, Jung said. The Central Park Avenue property was donated some years ago to the Park District, which hopes to develop it into a park. Jung said the Park District will hire a firm to conduct the inventory and make recommendations for maintenance, such as pruning or removal of any trees. The inventory will be taken starting in the spring, with any needed pruning or removal taking place in the fall and winter. The second year of the grant will consist of planting 60 new trees in the spring and fall and the third year will concentrate on the watering and monitoring of the newly planted trees and documenting their health. Jung said the parks have several older trees that will, in the coming years, need to be removed, and planting trees now will provide time for them to mature. mnolan@
