Wheeling Park District honored at state conference

Both the director of the Wheeling Park District and the agency itself were recognized at a recent state conference.

Jan Buchs, the executive director, was given the honored professional award by the Illinois Association of Park Districts. The award is given to directors who have worked closely with their communities and the Illinois association.

Buchs was recognized because of a recent park district and village land exchange that helped establish a municipal campus, the acquisition of 10 acres of open space near Heritage Park and the disconnection of the Chevy Chase Country Club.

"It was a great honor," Buchs said. "Those things that were cited really happened because a lot of people worked together to accomplish goals. It's not one person; it's a group of good people working together."

Buchs said the community had asked for more open space in a survey, and the park district followed through on that.

"I think some of these items don't happen with regularity, where a village and a park district work together to meet the overall good of the community," Buchs said.

The district also recently went through an 18-month auditing process to be named a distinguished agency. Less than 10 percent of eligible agencies in the state meet that requirement.

Buchs said the district went through an evaluation that its been preparing for since 2006.

"We're much more effective and efficient in our operations because of what we went through in our preparation process," Buchs said.

Besides the other two honors, the district's newsletter In the Know was given first place for outstanding printed newsletter in the state.

"It was a great conference for the Wheeling Park District -- there's no question about that," Buchs said. "It's always great to be recognized statewide and by professionals in the industry that you have a lot of respect for."