Lake in the Hills seeks new parks director

Lake in the Hills is seeking a new parks and recreation director with current director Trudy Wakeman retiring Aug. 31.

Wakeman, of Lake in the Hills, has worked for the village 16 years.

"She started off as our first superintendent of recreation and I promoted her to director," Village Administrator Gerald Sagona said.

Under Wakeman's watch, the village's parks and recreation department has grown from a few ball fields and courts to roughly 100 acres of athletic fields.

"There's not many parks or programs that don't have her name associated with it," Sagona said. "We had a very limited recreation program, which has increased geometrically. The majority of it was built under her direction."

Wakeman helped design playground equipment for five new parks and the disc golf course.

Wakeman oversees four full-time and two part-time employees and 75 seasonal workers who together manage 31 park sites, beaches, playgrounds, baseball, softball and soccer fields and bicycle trails, and administer recreational programs, special events, trips and outings.

Wakeman previously worked for Wheeling, Arlington Heights and Libertyville parks departments. She and husband Scott Heher, police chief for the village of Itasca, are retiring at the same time and plan to stay in the community, Sagona said.

"She has been a pleasure to work with," he said.

The village is accepting applications for the job through the end of this month and Sagona expects to have a replacement hired within 60 days.

The salary range is $85,259 to $117,738 a year based on experience, he said.

The ideal candidate must have a combination of education and experience working in recreation administration and be a certified parks and recreation professional, he said.