The Community Park District of La Grange Park recently purchased property for its first new park in several decades.
The Park District Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $700,000 real estate purchase Feb. 10 with The Village Church of La Grange Park United Church of Christ, 1150 Meadowcrest Ave.
Jessica Cannaday, the Park District’s executive director, said the shady land is an asset to be protected.
“The first thing the Park District is going to focus on is the tree health and the tree management, because it has a significant number of really mature and valuable trees.” she said. “That’s the first investment we’re going to make, to make sure that the ones that are a hazard are removed and that the ones that are an asset to the community are taken care of.”
The purchase represents the first new public park in the village since the opening of Hanesworth Park in 1978, almost a half-century ago.
It was made possible, in part, by a grant of $342,500 from the Land Water Conservation Fund from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The terms of the grant mandate that the Park District has three years to make the necessary improvements to turn the .86 acre property into a “passive park,” without athletic facilities for soccer, baseball or basketball. The focus will be on walking paths, natural elements, and the conservation of open space.
The Village Church congregation, which was established in 1958, approved the sale Jan. 26 during its annual meeting, and its board ratified the deal Feb. 5. Park District officials said the Village Church congregation is merging with St. Michael’s Lutheran Church on 31st Street, and will remain in La Grange Park. The Village Church building is scheduled for demolition sometime in the second year of the park development.
While much of the work on the new facility will be done in-house by Park District employees, other costs not covered by the grant will be covered by capital funding and program fees.
Cannaday said a factor in the decision to create the new park was its location west of the railroad tracks, as there are no other similar facilities on the west end of the village. She said there has been no thought yet given to what the park may be named, saying “that’s all up in the air right now.”
Park District arborist Sara Earhart is eager to begin working on cataloging the trees on the new park property.
“We’re especially excited about the three mature sycamores on the property. Those are really gorgeous shade trees,” she said. “We’re going to add them to our cyclical pruning schedule to make sure that they get pruned and get the care that they need, and that will be for all of the trees on the property.”
They’ll also get right to work adding more features.
“We will be doing an Arbor Day planting on the property this April 25th,” she said. “We are looking at different options for how to keep the space open and make it an enjoyable place to be in the community. Right now we’re thinking about adding a walking trail south of the church, diagonally across with benches.”
Earhart stressed that the intent of the Park District was to retain the property as open space, and to install native plants when possible.
“I was thinking of doing some small installations around the benches with some native plants, small, like pollinator pods, mixed in with some native grasses,” she said.
Earhart said part of the concept for the new park was for residents to be able to continue using the property as open space, since that’s how many used the property anyway.
“That’s really what we heard when we did our input meetings (with residents), that people have enjoyed walking their dogs around the park, people have enjoyed being able to play catch in the park, and that’s what they wanted,” she said. “They didn’t want a mini sports field.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
