What should Naperville include in future Southwest Community Park?
Plans for a 33-acre park to be built on farmland in south Naperville are ready for public input as consultants prepare their designs for consideration by the park board in June.
An explanation of the preliminary concept for Southwest Community Park is set to be posted to the park district's website today, along with a survey about features to include among new outdoor and indoor recreation space.
The park, at Wolf's Crossing Road and Trumpet Avenue, is the last large open space the park district owns to develop. It could be built in stages within the next several years, Executive Director Ray McGury said. The speed of development will depend on the amenities chosen and the funding available, he said.
Features included among the preliminary plans include a playground, splash pad, basketball court, 1.78-mile walking trail, amphitheater, sled hill, picnic shelter, gazebo, ninja-style challenge course and woodland area, along with baseball fields, pickleball courts, multipurpose fields, native landscaping, outdoor fitness stations, parking and land for some sort of future recreation building.
Michelle Kelly, principal landscape architect for Upland Design in Plainfield, walked a group of 35 residents through the plans Wednesday.
"We want the park plan to be a reflection of what the community wants and needs," Kelly said.
Attendees of Wednesday's meeting were the first to rank their priorities, which others can do beginning today by taking the survey. Top outdoor desires included a playground, multipurpose fields and a splash pad.
"It's helping us know what needs to be built first," Kelly said about the prioritization exercise.
That likely will be a playground, McGury said, and maybe some other more basic courts and fields.
Dennis Gandhi lives east of the future park and said his kids will play there once it's complete, but for now he drives them to a park on 111th Street. Aside from kids' amenities, Gandhi said he wants to see a disc golf course to fulfill his own interests.
Other residents asked about the possibility of an outdoor or indoor pool, large baseball fields for teenagers, sand volleyball, shuffleboard or badminton. McGury said a swimming pool or any indoor offerings likely would be built later and would cost more, possibly requiring the park district to seek a tax increase through a referendum question in 2020.
Whatever is built, nearby resident Leslie Stomper said she wants it to include natural features and activities that remain possible during the winter.
"I like the landscaping ideas," Stomper said. "I would like to see more things that are usable year-round."