For the kindergartners through third graders at Lyon Magnet Elementary School in Waukegan, the invitation to participate in the dedication of the renovated Dugdale Park meant a two-hour recess with lunch.
“It’s really fun,” third grader Camila Martinez said. “A lot more recess is better. I can’t wait to go on the zipline.”
For state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Gurnee, and George Dridges Jr., the president of the Waukegan Park District Board of Commissioners, the dedication was an opportunity to reminisce about their childhood growing up a few doors away from the park.
Mayfield said she lived within a block of the park. There was no playground. She and her friends used play elements at the Anne Kiley Center for developmentally disabled individuals, which borders the park on the east. It was not much better when she raised her own children.
“I had to take them all the way to Bowen Park to enjoy what we have here today,” she said. “Today, there is something for you and your whole family. Today, there is something for everyone.”
Bridges, Mayfield, other public officials and the schoolchildren cut a ribbon at the grand reopening of Dugdale Park on Monday in Waukegan, celebrating the $2.5 million upgrade of the recreation facility.
Bridges said that while an elementary school student, recess was an eagerly anticipated part of the day. He would have liked one for two hours, but he said that after the ribbon-cutting, there were plenty of lessons learned during free play that he realized later.
“This was my park when I was growing up. I went to Lyon Magnet right over there,” Bridges said during his opening remarks. “You learn things while you’re playing, you don’t even realize until you’re grown,” he later added.
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said a two-hour recess might have been nice during his elementary school days, but there is much more to it than playing on swings and slides.
“The education they’re getting out here, they’re not even recognizing yet,” he said. “There are a lot of little, small things.”
Help came from the state and city to help finance the project. Park District Executive Director Jay Lerner said $1 million was arranged from a grant by Mayfield, another $200,000 from funding organized by state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, and $100,000 from the city’s Community Development Block Grant fund.
Though the zipline had the children from Lyon most excited, many of them were playing on the slide and climbing apparatus. Some were using the swings. Though a playground was at the park at one time, Lerner said there was none for 11 years.
Lerner said a splash pad was added along with a dog park, a picnic shelter, a basketball hoop with room for half-court games and a walking path seven-tenths of a mile around — the longest in any of the city’s parks. A private donation funded 90 new trees.
Along with the additions, Lerner said the baseball and soccer fields were upgraded, as well as the restroom and parking lot.
Before the Lyon students went to the play elements, they were fed a lunch of hot dogs, chips and frozen custard. They were enjoying the food, but third graders Leilani De La Cruz and Ashley Hererera had play on their minds.
“This is real nice,” Leilanio said. “It has a zipline.”
“I like the swings,” Ashley said. “I’m going to go to the zipline, too.”
While the children were eating, playing, and helping with the ribbon-cutting, one of their teachers, Rebecca Navarro, said she had a relevant lesson planned for the afternoon on the environment and ecology.
“We’ll discuss the benefits of the park to the environment,” Navarro said. “We’ll also talk about what may not be good for the park.”
