Dundee Twp. adding BMX track, skate plaza

Some of the projects scheduled for Dundee Township Park District facilities this summer would be at home at the X-Games, while others are more suitable for a cruise ship.

The park district will spend almost $600,000 to improve tennis and basketball courts, repave parking lots, install bocce ball courts, build a skate plaza and create a pump track for BMX and mountain bike riders. A four-hole short course also will be constructed at Randall Oaks Golf Club in West Dundee.

"We sense that this will be a very busy summer because more people will be doing things locally," park district executive director Tom Mammoser said.

Each of the district's four main towns - Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee and Sleepy Hollow - will benefit from the projects.

The skate plaza near the new tennis courts in Huffman Park in West Dundee comes with a $150,000 price tag.

After getting input from local skateboarders, the park district is moving toward a fenceless skate plaza intended to create a street skating environment with stairs, handrails and ramps.

"From an aesthetic perspective, this is better to look at," Mammoser told West Dundee village officials during a presentation Monday night. "This is what kids are doing on the street and is more what the kids want."

While the park district will prohibit the use of bikes on the new skate plaza, a pump track will be built near the Carpentersville fire station on Cleveland Avenue.

A pump track, Mammoser said, is a dirt and clay track with moguls and berms that challenge riders and gravity.

The pump track is expected to cost $20,000.

"These are things that our community does not have but many communities do have," Mammoser said. "We thought it was time to dip into reserves and make these available to the community."

Another big-ticket item will replace aging playground equipment in Huffman Park, as well as a shelter area, to the tune of $100,000, Mammoser said.

Park officials hope a beginner-friendly golf course at Randall Oaks will bring new players to the West Dundee club.

As part of the Links Across America program with funding from Wadsworth Golf, the park district will build a four-hole course with a putting and pitching area on one of the driving ranges at Randall Oaks.

The intent is to create a comfortable place for children, beginners and golfers with disabilities to learn and play the game, Mammoser said.

The park district received a $150,000 grant from Wadsworth Golf.

The remaining $250,000 will come from the district's funds, Mammoser said.

Construction is due to begin in August with a completion date some time in the summer of 2010.