Shorewood: Community Open House To Discuss Village Parks

SHOREWOOD, IL — On Thursday night and again next Thursday, which is June 23, Shorewood village officials will be holding open house community forums to gather feedback from residents about a handful of major parks projects.

This Thursday, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the village hall, Shorewood officials will talk about its recent purchase of 32 acres of dedicated park space at River Road and River Crossing Drive.

"We very much would like to get community input on this larger parcel of community recreation space," village administrator Aaron Klima notified Patch. "Our design partner for this endeavor is Wight & Company, and they would like to get a lot of input from kids."

"We're trying to come up with a master plan for just the 32 acres," added public works director Noriel Noriega. "What do the residents want?"

To learn more on that park project, visit the Shorewood website.

On Thursday, June 23, also from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Shorewood will host another community open house, this time to talk about Diana Park and Kits Corner Park.

According to Noriega, the two parks are showings its age and the playground equipment is outdated and pushing the limits of life expectancy.

"We have identified a need for park upgrades and staff has developed a park replacement program," Noriega added.

He noted that Diana Park and Kits Corner Park will be our first parks to be revamped later this year. Conceptual renderings with different playground options have been created and will be presented at the Community Open House event.

"We are hopeful that residents ... from each neighborhood will participate and provide input into the design, so we can construct a neighborhood park that our residents want," Noriega stated.

Diana Park

According to Shorewood, Diana Park was constructed in 1998 in the Sunset Hills subdivision near the Route 59, Cottage Road, and School Road intersection. The park is along the south side of Diana Street on a parcel located between two single family residences. The playground equipment is original. The project will relocate the park to the north side of Diana Street on an existing vacant parcel adjacent to Troy Shorewood Elementary School and will include pedestrian access between the Sunset Hills Subdivision and the school. The new park will feature new playground equipment and play surface, site furniture and landscaping, and a new pedestrian path to provide connectivity to the school. We anticipate design to be completed in July, with hopes of construction to be completed this fall.

Kits Corner Park

Kits Corner Park was constructed in 1998 in the Fox Bend Subdivision at the northwest corner of Jefferson Street and River Road. The park is located on a half-acre parcel at the Savoy and Turnbridge intersection. The new park will feature new playground equipment and play surfaces, site furniture and landscaping. Similar to Diana Park, we anticipate design to be completed in July with construction to be completed this fall.