A $21 million plan for improvements to picnic shelters, golf courses and a swimming pool operated by the Cook County Forest Preserve won initial approval Wednesday from a panel of county commissioners.
The Forest Preserve’s Finance Committee, which includes the 17 Cook County commissioners who also oversee the Forest Preserve District, unanimously approved the plan to spend approximately $5 million on projects in each of the district’s four regions.
The improvements are slated to be completed over the next two years.
The plan now goes to the full board on Tuesday.
The funds, which come from the Illinois FIRST program, will target a host of maintenance projects long deferred for lack of money.
A considerable portion of the money will be used to repave parking lots, repair run-down shelters and address other infrastructure needs.
The district, for example, proposes spending $311,540 to repair the picnic shelter and repave the parking lot at Allison Woods in the northern region of the county.
District officials also plan to spend $509,800 for work at Schiller Woods in the northwest part of the county, including the overhaul of picnic shelters and the stabilization of 2,800 feet of shoreline at Schiller Pond.
Money is also being earmarked for golf course improvements, with $264,000 to replace asphalt tees with grass tees at Billy Caldwell Golf Course. Similar improvements are planned at Edgebrook Golf Course and Indian Boundary Golf Course.
The $3 million earmarked for replacing the swimming pool and associated facilities at Green Lake Woods in Calumet City attracted criticism from some government watchdog groups.
Two groups, Friends of the Parks and Friends of the Forest Preserves, also argued that a larger portion of the grant money should be used to restore and protect the district’s natural resources.
Erma Tranter, executive director of Friends of the Parks, argued that the $3 million earmarked for the Green Lake Woods pool “should be used in South Side preserves to restore the paths, natural areas or shelters.”
But commissioners, citing the popularity of the newly renovated Whealan pool, said the proposed expenditure was appropriate.
County Commissioner Herb Schumann also noted the board could not approve a $3.5 million upgrade at Whealan and ignore the other county facilities.
“We have a responsibility to repair the other pools,” Schumann said.
