The Oak Brook Park District has been awarded a $400,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the state that will be used for a variety of projects at Central Park North.
The Park District plans to use the funds toward the costs of a shelter and amphitheater space, a fitness challenge course for all ages, table games, including pingpong, chess, and checkers; as well as a boccie court, said Haley Colucci, the Park District’s marketing & communications manager. An accessible pathway will accompany the amphitheater, and an accessible fishing area will be created along Ginger Creek, she said.
The grant for the Park District made it one of 87 agencies in the state to benefit from $30 million the state has available in OSLAD grant funding, as was announced July 8 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The Central Park North property was purchased by the Park District from McDonald’s after voters in the village approved a November 2018 referendum for $17.9 million in bonds to be issued by the Park District.
User Upload Caption: The Oak Brook Park District plans to use the funds toward the costs of a shelter and amphitheater space, a fitness challenge course for all ages, table games, including ping pong, chess, and checkers; as well as a bocce court. Central Park North
– Original Credit: Oak Brook Park District
In July 2020, the Park District began Phase I construction at the Central Park North athletic fields site. That work, also funded in part by an OSLAD grant, included two full-size, illuminated soccer fields, fitness equipment, a bags game court, looped walking trails, totem plaza, basketball courts, and two picnic shelters. The park opened for use in the Spring of 2021.
Earlier this year, the Park District received a grant for $480,000 from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Those funds will be used to build a restroom and concessions building at the Central Park North athletic fields. Construction of the restroom, concessions, and storage building is scheduled to be completed by March 2023.
“We couldn’t be more excited to begin Phase II of this long-term vision for the development and improvement of Central Park,” said Laure Kosey, the Park District’s executive director. “We are so thankful that we will be able to enhance and add to our recreational opportunities near the north athletic fields, with both the DCEO and OSLAD grants.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
