Kilmer Park in Buffalo Grove to be rebuilt

The Buffalo Grove Park District plans to spend $788,000 next year to rebuild Kilmer Park, with a $394,000 state grant paying half that cost.

“We are very excited about receiving this grant, which will enable us to dramatically improve Kilmer Park,” the district’s executive director, Dan Schimmel, said in a news release. “When complete, this park will provide residents with a variety of new amenities that will be a great asset to the neighborhood.”

The project will include two tennis courts with lighting, a basketball court, a new playground with a rubberized safety surface, fitness equipment, a 20-foot shelter, skate elements, a badminton court, a Baggo court, a new baseball field that includes a batting cage, benches and bleachers, as well as landscaping, shade trees, bioswale and drainage.

The park is next to Joyce Kilmer School at 655 Golfview Terrace.

The project is scheduled to begin late next spring and be completed that fall.

The park district applied for the grant in May 2010, but was turned down. In November 2011, the park district reapplied and was successful.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced last week that the district is one of 42 park and recreation agencies throughout the state that will receive a total of $12.4 million through the Open Space Land Acquisition Development program.