Sunset Woods Park Project Awarded $600,000 Matching Grant

Politics & Government Sunset Woods Park Project Awarded $600,000 Matching Grant The state grant has been earmarked for a new sports court, skate and wheel-friendly plazas, a table tennis area and native plantings. Reply
A project to revitalize Sunset Woods Park is one of 118 local park projects to receive funding from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, state officials announced Wednesday. (Park District of Highland Park)
HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The Park District of Highland Park has been awarded a $600,000 matching grant from the Illinois Department of National Resources as part of its Open Space Land Acquisition and Development program.
Improvements to Sunset Woods Park are among the 118 local park projects to receive a combined $56 million in OSLAD funding. The Highland Park project received the maximum individual award available from the program and now has two years to complete the program. “We are thrilled to be awarded the OSLAD grant to allow us to invest in Sunset Woods Park, our community’s central downtown park,” Brian Romes, the executive director of the park district, said in a statement.
Park district staff began developing a master plan for Sunset Woods Park in 2020, and the board voted 3-1 to approve the OSLAD grant application at its meeting Sept. 28, 2022 — two days before the deadline for submission and too late to make changes to the proposed line items, according to minutes from the meeting. According to a presentation from Project and Planning Manager Amalia Schwartz, the project budget includes the following:
$622,000 for a skate plaza
$346,000 for a wheel friendly plaza
$123,000 for a multi-use basketball court
$80,000 for native plantings and interpretive signage
$61,000 for a table tennis game area It also includes $123,000 in soft costs for a total budget of $1.355 million. A presentation from a September 2022 meeting of the park district board of commissioners in Highland Park shows proposed improvements to Sunset Woods Park. (Park District of Highland Park/via video) “So why did we select these elements for this grant?” Schwartz said.
“We’re leveraging dollars that are already earmarked in our capital plan to address aging amenities — the basketball courts and the skate park,” she said. “We’re taking a holistic approach, so instead of just replacing or repairing those items that are in need, we’re using our Sunset Woods Master Plan to really think about how we want to think about this park holistically.” According to of feedback collected in 2020 and 2021 and summarized in the master plan, the community was not supportive of expanded hardscape in the park and emphasized maintaining existing amenities.
Many participants said use they the park for paths and appreciate the open space, and the community supported protecting and highlighting the park’s mature trees. There was also interest in an off-leash dog park, adult fitness and “water play,” according to the master plan. About 300 community members took part in a survey about Sunset Woods Park, with 150 of them in favor of a skate plaza, Schwartz told board members. Since state lawmakers created OSLAD in 1986, it has awarded more than $530 million to Illinois parks projects.
“OSLAD capital improvements projects create jobs, support small businesses and labor, promote physical and mental health, help educate and provide jobs to youth, and improve the environment,” said Peter Murphy, president and CEO of the Illinois Association of Park Districts, announcing this year’s round of grantees. “As IDNR staff can attest, there is an overwhelming demand for these projects, and today’s grants will once again enable local parks to make Illinois a better place to live, work, and play.”
For the first time this year, the grants cover 100 percent of eligible costs in places considered economically distressed based on poverty levels and property values, instead of requiring 1:1 local matching. Twenty-two grant recipients — not including Highland Park — qualified as distressed this year.