Park district finally gets state grant, plans upgrades at Lake Ellyn
Visitors to Lake Ellyn will see a "finished product" this summer when the Glen Ellyn Park District plans to complete a project funded in part by a newly released state grant.
The park district intended to make the improvements while restoring the Lake Ellyn Boathouse to a close replica of its original 1935 design. But commissioners scaled back the plan after Gov. Bruce Rauner put a hold on state grants for new construction and land acquisition shortly after he took office.
The park district received word late last summer that Rauner's administration had lifted the suspension on the $400,000 matching grant originally promised in 2014. The funding will allow the park district to move forward with upgrades spelled out in a long-term plan for Lake Ellyn that the board adopted four years ago.
"It will be a finished product and very consistent with this master plan we approved years ago," Executive Director Dave Harris said Tuesday. "The goal was to implement elements over time as we could afford them."
Those elements include a new fishing pier on the northwest corner of the lake, landscaping, signs, benches and bike racks. If commissioners agree to proceed, the park district also would replace a playground built in 1991 and reconfigure trails near the south side of the lake.
The master plan calls for moving those paths west, away from the shore and closer to the playground to open up green space. That also means more room for spectators of the annual Lake Ellyn Cardboard Boat Regatta.
"The greater lawn space will be really nice for special events," Harris said.
New lighting would match fixtures installed along the park's central corridor during the restoration of the boathouse last summer. Crews also would anchor several vegetative restorers - "small floating islands" on Lake Ellyn - that help capture sediment as stormwater washes over plantings, Harris said.
The devices would float near underwater catch basins that already act like filters to trap heavy debris before stormwater spills into the lake.
"This will further clean the water," Harris said.
The state grant would cover half the roughly $800,000 project, and the park district would pay for the rest. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources already has released about $200,000 of the grant up front.
Commissioners will vote Feb. 21 on awarding a $57,180 contract for Wight & Company to oversee the project. The board also could approve bids for general contractors. Wight, a Chicago-based firm, was the construction manager on the boathouse renovations.
The park district set aside about $2.9 million for the meticulous restoration of the one-story building and construction of a stand-alone bathroom near the playground. That work came in under budget at $2.82 million and wrapped up in time for the cardboard boat regatta.
The park district also wants to complete the improvements by the third week of June. The handmade boats traditionally set sail on the Saturday before the Fourth of July.
"We hope to move quickly," Harris said.