Annexation last hurdle for park project

The Carol Stream Park District hired the construction crews Monday to build its latest park project.

But parks officials are still waiting on the village to annex Slepicka Homestead Park, a 5-acre site along Lies Road, just east of Fair Oaks Road, before any work begins on the site.

"There's nothing that would prevent the village from annexing the site," parks Director Arnie Biondo said. "The park is surrounded by the community. It's just a matter of getting through the system."

Park district commissioners voted to spend up to $896,830 to build the park.

Crews began demolishing several barns and a home on the site last fall to make way for the park project.

Bocce ball and croquet courts, as well as a picnic shelter and "sensory garden," will be among the amenities in what parks officials hope will become an attraction for the neighborhood.

A walking trail will connect to nearby Jirsa Park, located southwest of Slepicka, as well as Lies Road, allowing easy access for bikers and pedestrians. The park district bought the land last year for about $840,000 from Frank Slepicka, a Kane County soybean farmer who gradually sold off his 120-acre farm in what is now Carol Stream.

Parks officials also agreed to promote the site's history as a former piece of farmland through informational markers in the park. The park district plans to renovate an old silo on the property and use it to display artifacts from the area's farming past.

Once the park district gets the annexation of the site finalized, parks officials said they plan to begin construction on the park later this summer and hope to open the park to the public as early as next spring.