Group comes up with 3 plans for Wheeling's Heritage Park

The Wheeling Park District on Thursday debuted three plans for Heritage Park, which were put together by a community committee.

Fifteen residents who use the park or work with entities such as the village, Rotary and library have been working to come up with plans for the 98-acre park.

The district is now looking for resident input to consolidate the three concepts. The plans will be available for comment at the Community Recreation Center, 333 W. Dundee Road, and at www.wheelingparkdistrict.com.

A final plan will be decided on by July, and a final report will be presented to the park district board in September.

All three plans include a provision for four baseball fields, arranged in a circle around a concession stand. They also all include entrances from the north, off Dundee Road, but the three plans utilize the entrance in different ways.

The plans also take into account pathways around the park and more parking, but the lots are placed in different areas for each idea. The concepts include the same elements that have been rearranged in various ways.

Concept one includes:

• An entrance that takes users through a natural area.

• Soccer fields to the east on the floodway.

• Expanding Heritage Lake to the west to add a natural area with a bird habitat and wetlands.

• A centralized band shell and gazebo with a possible fountain to act as a family activity area.

• Moving the maintenance building.

The second plan features:

• An open lawn or plaza at the entrance.

• Baseball fields moved up north and soccer fields in the flood way.

• Heritage Lake expanded to the east.

• An access drive and parking close to the aquatic center.

• A band shell along the northwest edge of the lake and a soccer field to the west of the lake.

• A natural area around Buffalo Creek

• A playground to the south, adjacent to the lake, with tennis and basketball courts near the north entrance.

The final concept includes:

• An entrance with some feature, such as a high-quality soccer field, to attract visitors.

• Soccer fields to the southeast and baseball fields in a similar location to the second concept.

• Heritage Lake expanded to the east and a natural area to the west that would act as a mini-forest preserve.

• A playground to the east and a larger playground to the north of the lake that acts as a central feature of the park.

• A band shell to the east of the lake.

• A natural area along Buffalo Creek that could also act as a second pedestrian entrance to the park.