After the west side of Golf Mill Park in Niles was spruced up, residents and visitors can look forward to renovations on the east side of the park, which is directly south of Golf Mill Shopping Center.
The Niles Park District started $3.3 million in construction work for renovations for the east end of the park, bordered on the east by Cumberland Avenue, on Aug. 13. The park, which is jointly owned by the village of Niles (the western half, bordered by Greenwood Avenue) and the Niles Park District (the eastern half), is estimated to be completely redeveloped well before $440 million renovations to the Golf Mill Shopping Center are finished.
To finance the $3.3 million renovations on the eastern half, which will include multiple sports, play, and leisure areas, the park district received $1.2 million in Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grants from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. According to Niles Park District’s Executive Director Tom Elenz, construction is slated to be completed by June 2025.
The improvement to the park district’s side of the park, which is between Grace Street, Church Street, Davis Street, and Cumberland Avenue, will include new and improved pickleball, basketball, and tennis courts, a soccer field with improved drainage, walking paths, a bigger playground, picnic shelter, seating area, game tables and a fitness section.
According to the village’s communications specialist, Mitch Johnson, the village owns the west half of the park between Grace Street and Greenwood Avenue because it bought the former bank property located there. The village’s renovations to its side of the park were completed last year and included upgrades to stormwater storage, walking paths, a festival grass area, sitting areas and new lighting. The village financed construction on its side of the park.
The primary funding source for the village’s park renovations was a 0.25% sales tax increment directed toward stormwater, according to a village document. The village also received a $2 million reimbursement from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Elenz said the park district will take care of maintenance work on the village’s side of the park, including mowing grass, weeding flower beds, and fertilizing the grass. Water detention on the village’s half of Golf Mill Park will still be the village’s responsibility. The village and park district agreed to an intergovernmental agreement, a formal contract between two governing bodies, on how Golf Mill Park will be maintained in March 2023.
“The Village’s redeveloped park is not for revenue, but a gathering place for families and special events for the community,” Johnson said. He added that the park will “provide a unique and special destination that can host big festivals, while also serving everyday needs for open space, (and) continue to serve pre-existing functions for sport.” The Maria SS. Lauretana Festival and Holly Jolly Fest will be held on the western end of the park and, at times, also include the eastern end of the park.
Johnson said in March that “High Flight,” a 10-foot-tall abstract sculpture of a WACO CG-4A glider, will be unveiled in spring 2025 to honor World War II veterans. The sculpture will be located on the village’s side of the park and was also paid for by the village.
The park district’s side of Golf Mill Park will remain closed during construction and will only open once all the work is done, Elenz said.
