Elgin parks plan nearly set

Elginites have another chance Tuesday night to provide input on the direction of the city's parks and recreational facilities.

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will host a meeting at 6 p.m. at the Centre, 100 Symphony Way, to gather another round of opinions as the group puts the finishing touches on its parks and recreation master plan.

"We feel good about the public input we have. We feel good about the document. (But) we may have missed something," said Randy Reopelle, director of the parks and recreation department.

The city held focus groups and a series of public meetings during spring and summer to get suggestions on how to improve and expand on the 1,678 acres it has in 67 parks.

After Tuesday, the plan will be reviewed by the city council, with the earliest possible date being Oct. 27. The plan lays out goals for the next five years and beyond and is key for when the city applies for state grants or other sources of funding.

The plan suggests improvements for all areas of the city, some short term and others that could take years and years to come to fruition.

Reopelle said the city is looking at more partnerships with schools and churches to establish more parks where people could drop in and fly a kite or have a softball practice instead of an organized, programmed activity.

"There's a lot of recommendations and we don't have a lot of money. We looking at some new strategies. We don't need to own everything. We can lease some land," he said.

For example, the plan suggests reusing some of the parking lots from the old Sherman Hospital on the city's east side for tennis and basketball courts.

It also suggests expanding the 107-acre Elgin Sports Complex off Routes 20 and 31 to include some land from the Elgin Mental Health Facility.

The plan also says the city should develop a plan to improve and maintain Wing Park on the city's west side.

It also suggests that the city look to establish a community park at Lyle and Mark avenues in the Valley Creek subdivision using undeveloped land for a community park that could one day be a place for a dog park.

The full plan may be viewed at elginparksmasterplan.org and residents also may visit that website to provide e-mail input as well.