The Park District of Forest Park is planning renovations to its soccer field, playground and surrounding areas within the main park on Harrison Street.
On Aug. 26, the park district held a community public input meeting with Hitchcock Design Group — the firm that, in recent years, designed the Popelka, Remembrance and Rieger pocket parks. At the meeting, about a dozen residents voted on preferred features by placing stickers on the design elements that they liked.
The main playground was last updated around 2013, though the park district has replaced some of its equipment since. Jackie Iovinelli, the park’s executive director, said the main playground has seen more wear-and-tear than any of the park district’s pocket parks because of how often locals frequent it.
“It gets more use than its intended purpose,” Iovinelli said.
The soccer field was built in the early 2000s, and the surface was redone in 2013, but is quickly degrading.
“That was the driving force behind this project,” Iovinelli said of the soccer field’s condition.
After the park district pool, “our soccer field is probably the most utilized,” said Kristen Lyons, vice president of the park board. Both youth and adult soccer leagues use the field, as well as local schools.
Staff at the park district and Hitchcock Design Group brainstormed updates to the area together. Hitchcock designed renovations to portions of the park based on age groups.
While the area of the park with the main playground is designed for children, the section of the park between the existing pavilion and the skatepark will cater toward a slightly older demographic. Design suggestions for the latter include a game space with ping pong tables and a putting green. At the area surrounding the existing camp building on the east side of the property, planners are suggesting space for an outdoor classroom and recess games.
A map of the Park District of Forest Park’s main campus with existing structures represented with black letters and suggested renovations in red letters | Jessica Mordacq 
Suggestions for new equipment for the main playground | Jessica Mordacq 
Suggested renovations to the park district soccer field and for areas surrounding the main playground | Jessica Mordacq
A few children who attended the community input meeting with their parents also voted for their favorite features.
“Kids need empowerment just as much as adults do,” Lyons said after handing them stickers.
Samantha Abernethy, a Forest Park resident and parent who attended the community meeting, expressed a desire for more space for children in the park district’s after-school program and summer camp.
“The childcare aspect is important,” Abernethy told the Review, adding that there should be more space to accommodate it. “I think it’s a really important aspect of living here.”
Another resident added that new space dedicated for these children could allow the Roos Recreation center to cater more to programming and classes for adults.
When asked if renaming the main playground — which doesn’t have an official title, unlike the other pocket parks — is on the docket along with renovations, Iovinelli said “I don’t see us renaming it.”
According to community meeting attendees, some of the pocket parks were once colloquially referred to by the street they reside on. And while they have official names now, the park district main playground is likely to keep its informal nomenclature.
The park district intends to partially pay for renovations with a $600,000 matching grant from Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development. The park district would need to finance another $600,000 for the project. They haven’t applied yet to the OSLAD grant, and applications are due by the end of September. To apply, the park district needs to undergo community engagement like they did with the Aug. 26 meeting.
The OSLAD grant will be awarded in January. If the park district receives it, construction could start next fall at the earliest.
Because Hitchcock Design Group has accessed OSLAD funding for the pocket parks, park district officials say the group has a solid understanding of the grant and its application process.
Iovinelli said the OSLAD grant is financed by Illinois’ real estate transfer tax and isn’t at risk of losing federal funding with potential budget cuts.
