A makeover is now set for Knollwood Park as the Lake Bluff Park District has acquired a state grant to offset some of the costs.
On Dec. 16, the state announced the Lake Bluff Park District was one of 100 recipients for its latest batch of Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grants. These grants, specifically from the Illinois Department of National Resources, are used to improve park areas and advance recreational opportunities.
The state approved a $293,300 grant application for the Knollwood changes. The LBPD will match that amount under the rules of the OSLAD grant program.
The LBPD wants to improve the approximate two-acre Knollwood Park, located at 1015 W. Washington Avenue, near the intersection of Waukegan and Rockland Road. Specifically, it will replace its aging playground equipment, install a gazebo, enhance ADA accessibility, enhance drainage and improve the parking situation, according to Executive Director John Bealer.
“There hasn’t been a lot of investment in that park in recent years so this will be a really nice enhancement,” he said. “It will benefit the residents in that area.”
Bealer noted currently Knollwood currently has two separate playground areas with one designed for two to five-year-olds at one end and the other for six to 12 year olds, but they are at different parts of the park, making it challenging for adults to watch children of different ages. The renovation will lead to a more uniform appearance, according to Bealer.
He added the new gazebo will be by the playground.
“That will be a very nice addition to the park that is not there right now,” he said.
There will also be new pathways making the park more ADA accessible and parking would be improved.
“One of the things where we received a lot of feedback during our public meetings what that our parking was always a problem,” Bealer said. “That is one of the things we are addressing with the project.”
Bealer said the Park District’s immediate concentration would be a repair of the Blair Park pool, with hopes that it will be completed by Memorial Day. He hopes the Knollwood Park facelift will start in the fall of 2025.
The park is in Knollwood, an unincorporated adjacent to the village of Lake Bluff. However, the area is within the service areas of the Lake Bluff Park District, which is a separate unit of government.
Overall, the IDNR is set to disperse $55.2 million in this latest round of OSLAD grants.
“This round of OSLAD grants represents long-awaited projects from the smallest villages of rural Illinois to Chicago and the suburbs,” IDNR Director Natalie Phelps Finnie said in a statement. “There is an impressive amount of work, creativity, and ambition that goes into planning new outdoor recreational facilities, and I’m delighted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is able to play a small part in helping communities thrive.”
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
