Aurora officials are working off two basic plans for the proposed renovation of Garfield Park.
Either plan will be refined after more public input, and the city is preparing to apply for a state grant to pay for half of the renovation.
The park in the Pigeon Hill neighborhood on the city’s northeast side is considered one of the city-run legacy parks, along with Phillips, Solfisburg, McCarty and Wilder parks.
The grant would be through the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development program, known as OSLAD, which is run through Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The deadline for applying for the next round of OSLAD grants is Aug. 31, so the City Council will vote next week on a resolution authorizing applying for the grant.
The maximum amount the city could get, and is therefore asking for, is $600,000. If awarded, the city would have to match it with $600,000, which would make the entire project about $1.2 million.
City staff this week showed aldermen, meeting as a Committee of the Whole, the two plans being considered.
Both plans include a new playground, splash pad, bathroom and shelter, upgraded parking with rain gardens and EV charging stations, two permanent street soccer fields, four pickleball courts, a large artificial turf area that could be used for multiple sports, mainly soccer, baseball and football, a second parking lot and an American with Disabilities Act-accessible baseball field.
There would be sidewalks connecting all the amenities throughout the park. The permanent street soccer fields are in response to the popularity of temporary street soccer fields the city’s Parks Department has used during summers throughout the city.
The difference between the two plans is where the parking is located, and the shape of the artificial turf sports area.
Trevor Dick, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, said this week the $1.2 million would not be enough to do the entire renovation, no matter which plan is chosen. He said the project would have to be done in a “phased” manner.
The park also would include new lighting that is more energy efficient and aimed so less light leaks into the neighborhood.
The new parking lots, and the use of artificial turf fields, will require new drainage in the park, officials said.
Gio Santana, Aurora’s Parks Department director, said artificial turn is proposed because maintenance is easier and cheaper.
Both plans were on display recently at a Back to School function sponsored by Ald. Emmanuel Llamas, 1st Ward, at the park. There will be two more public input sessions, both at 6 p.m., Aug. 21 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, and Aug. 29 at the Marywood Community Center.
Llamas said this week the park improvement is “definitely needed.”
“The community is going to love either of the two options,” he said. “I’m real excited for this project.”
