The Park District of Forest Park landed another award Monday when Governor Quinn announced a $400,000 grant for the landscaping and grounds around The Park’s new Roos site recreation center.
The park district applied in March 2014 for the OSLAD (Open Space Land Acquisition and Development) from the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources.
Chicago Landscape Designers from Hitchcock Design Group helped the parks write a grant that included walking trails, a pavilion and bike parking for the Circle Avenue Blue Line stop. The architects also planned an indented grassy area behind the rec center intended for temporary floodwater retention.
Currently, the park district is planning a brownfield cleanup to remediate industrial contaminants from the site’s old use as a factory.
Executive Director Larry Piekarz has said the park will break ground on the new building in the spring.
