State Grant Will Cover Half Of $560,000 South Park Improvements

LAKE FOREST, IL — The Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded a matching grant for upgrades to a park in southeast Lake Forest. The $280,000 grant will help the Lake Forest Park District cover the costs of repairing aging sports facilities and improving accessibility at South Park, according to state and local officials.

The park district project was one of 87 across the state to be awarded part of a combined $28 million in matching grants through the 2019 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development program, Gov. JB Pritzker announced last month. South Park is located north of the intersection of East Westleigh Road and South Western Avenue and between the campuses of Lake Forest Country Day School and Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart.

Park district officials plan to upgrade two tennis/pickleball courts, a basketball court, a fitness area with three pieces of equipment and poured in place surfacing, a batting cage and a bocce court, according to minutes from a October 2018 board meeting. The improvements will also cover trail connection to June Terrace and to the parking lot that will be wheelchair-accessible, a trail loop section at the south end of the park and restoration of natural woodland and wetland areas with a limestone trail and interpretative signage.

Since 1987, the OSLAD program has invested over $419 million in 1,765 local projects. It is funded through a percentage of the state's real estate transfer tax.

“Investments in Illinois’ local parks makes it easier for families and recreation enthusiasts to enjoy our state’s beauty and help their communities thrive,” Pritzker said, announcing the grants. “Parks projects will also create jobs, providing a boost to local economic development efforts in dozens of communities and spurring additional investment throughout the state.”

In 2017, Lake Forest approved a $225,000 upgrade to playground equipment at South Park, the Lake Forester reported. Most of the old equipment had been installed in 1990 and did not meet a number of requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Community feedback received by the park district identified improving the "nearly unusable" tennis courts at South Park as a needed improvement, according to its application for the OSLAD grant. Park district officials aim to get started with the latest upgrades during the summer.