Deer Park considering D'Angelo Park improvements

The village of Deer Park is considering applying for a grant to renovate Michael D'Angelo Park, which officials say would improve the park's beauty and usability while decreasing water pollution and improving drainage in the area.

The plan, which is still in its preliminary stages, would likely add new landscaping, shrubbery and an ADA-compliant track around the perimeter of the park, according to Village Administrator Beth McAndrews. The park is around 3 acres and located southwest of the intersection of West Long Grove Road and North Quentin Road.

Perhaps more important than any improvements to the park's aesthetics and accessibility is the improved drainage it could provide to the surrounding area.

"We've been fighting water since we got in," Deer Park Village Board President Bob Kellerman said at the board's last meeting in July. "Water is a very odd commodity"

Kellerman said drainage has improved since the village was established in 1957. He said in the past it wasn't unusual for rainwater to collect in "lakes" that could be several feet deep and hang around for days and even weeks before they drained away.

But now water moves through the village faster than ever. In the past six years the village resurfaced 75 percent of roads, Kellerman said, and the culverts under the roads are all new.

There is still room for improvement and the project could do that while decreasing water pollution, McAndrews said. She said the grant the village may apply for is from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The village submitted initial application documents for the grant in July, but McAndrews said officials later removed themselves from consideration because they wanted to hone the plan.

"We needed to further evaluate the project and park," McAndrews said Thursday. "We don't want to be awarded a grant and not have a plan."