The rec board has pluck. And we like pluck.
The village’s recreation board is a small advisory group existing in the odd space between the village and its small pocket parks, and the park district and its large The Park. We’ve always found this to be an actively screwy situation. On the other hand, we’ve never seen much worry or concern about it on the part of residents.
So be it.
The rec board, though, actively looks for its opportunities to push on and it seems to have latched onto a concept worth exploring. The group is studying the option of creating a second dog park in the village using land near The Altenheim that’s owned by the village and badly underutilized.
The rec board sees the costs being limited to fencing off one acre of the eight-acre site. The concept is that the dog park would be a temporary creation until the village finds a permanent use for the entire site. Remember this is where the YMCA was expected to relocate until that deal came apart. And very preliminary discussions are under way with Fenwick High School and Dominican University for the build-out of athletic fields.
Commissioner Marty Tellalian, liaison to the rec board, is right that the planning will need to include active discussions with the site’s immediate residential neighbors. But finding a good, active use for this land is a good idea.
