Schools
Whole Foods Digs in to Raise Money for Irving Park Schoolyard Project
5-percent of all sales Nov. 1 to help transform playground at Oak Park school.
The Irving Park Schoolyard project will be getting a green boost from Whole Foods Market - in money that is.
Five percent of the store's proceeds Thursday, Nov. 1 will benefit the renovations at the playground.
For over 50 years, the schoolyard at Washington Irving School has been paved in asphalt. But community members have sought to turn the 80,000 square feet of blacktop into a recreation area that will be a benefit to the entire community, project organizers said.
Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A volunteer effort seven years in the making has aimed to change all of that. The organizers behind the Irving Schoolyard Project envision an outdoor wonderland for use by the school's growing student population as well as the rest of the Oak Park community.
As of now, the school is looking at draft designs for the playground, which could start construction in the spring. And now they're into raising the funds to bring about the field as well, Irving's principal John Hodge said.
Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The playground will be on the agenda of the District 97 School board meeting on Oct. 30. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the administrative center, 970 Madison St.
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