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@southtownstar.com
