Arlington Heights hopes to update 3 more parks

Having successfully created a master plan for Frontier Park, the Arlington Heights Park District is now making plans for three more parks.

Community input collected this summer will be an important part of developing plans for Camelot, a 15-acre park in the northern part of the village at 1005 E. Suffield Drive, and Heritage, a 22-acre park on the south side of the village at 506 W. Victoria Lane. In the fall, centrally located Recreation Park, with 16.5 acres at 500 E. Miner St., will be discussed.

Master plans are land use proposals for the next 30 years, but funding for major construction projects is always an issue, said Brian Huckstadt, director of parks and planning.

Forty-two citizens showed up for five public meetings about Frontier Park, officials said, with some attending several of the meetings.

The park district is applying for a state grant of about $400,000 to start outdoor improvements proposed in the master plan at Frontier Park, 1933 N. Kennicott Ave., which is about 28 acres and used by about 15,000 people annually. District personnel should know next January or February if the grant is approved.

Phase I would include a walking path around the park and improvements to athletic fields like baseball diamonds, tennis courts, basketball courts, playgrounds, picnic shelters and a sand volleyball court.

Eventually, the district will relocate the maintenance equipment to another site to make way for a soccer field that will have a synthetic surface playable most of the year, even during rainy times, said Huckstadt.

"It's been determined that this park has high recreation values. We will go out and see if we can relocate the maintenance building," he said.

A new community center and gymnasium are also proposed for the future, but it could be decades before these plans are realized.

"I'm very happy with the process," said Steve Scholten, the park district's executive director. "We had very good input from users and neighbors and were able to adjust the planning process."

Recreation Park provides additional challenges because of its uses for Frontier Days, American Legion baseball, and the age of the facilities. The community center was built in 1937 as a WPA project, and the swimming pool was remodeled in 1988.