Heritage Park redevelopment focus of park board race
The redevelopment of Heritage Park is the top priority for the three incumbents and two newcomers running for four, 4-year Wheeling Park District board seats on April 7.
The park district unveiled its Heritage Park master plan last summer. The board of commissioners adopted a final concept for the project in August.
The design calls for creating a large playground, tennis and basketball courts at the main entry into the park on the north end of town off Dundee Road. A second entrance on the east end from Wolf Road would lead directly to a ballfield complex with concessions and restrooms. The east entrance also includes a pedestrian-only path.
Other park features include a bandshell, a natural area with water detention along Buffalo Creek, a relocated parks building with public restrooms and concessions next to an engineered soccer field, and new parking areas off Dundee Road and Jeffrey Avenue.
Project planning may be completed this year, said incumbent park commissioner Brian Lichtenberger.
"2010 is really going to be the year to move forward with that park," said Lichtenberger, 50, who was first appointed to the board in 2006 and later elected to a 2-year term. "In this economic time, we really have to work together with other government groups."
Currently, negotiations are underway between the park district and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) for the Buffalo Creek reservoir project to store water held back by levees in part of the 100-acre Heritage Park in return for major improvements to the park.
"Heritage Park is the No. 1 priority to try to complete within budget as much as possible and work with MWRD," said incumbent Vivian Smith, 50, who was appointed to the park board in 2007. "Right now, what we're hoping for is the funds to come from MWRD. We have a wish-list of what we'd like to do based primarily on what they are willing to give us."
The park district does not have a total cost estimate for the Heritage Park project. It would likely cost millions of dollars that could partly be financed by the sale of bonds. How much the park district gets from MWRD may change the priorities for what gets developed in the plan.
The park district also is waiting for MWRD to work out an agreement with Wheeling since the village owns a portion of the land needed for water detention areas off Wolf Road.
The Heritage Park plan calls for a large pavilion overlooking an expanded Heritage Lake/detention area, a walking path around the entire perimeter with a raised boardwalk over a marsh-like viewing area. The plan includes a main bandshell in between the Aquatic Center and baseball fields and a smaller shell to the west of the lake.
"We have this opportunity to team up with the Army Corps of Engineers and the village (of Wheeling) to move that huge project forward," said incumbent Mike Kurgan, a park board commissioner since 2001.
He added, all parties need to share some of the cost to make the space usable.
Newcomer George Hernandez, 52, who served on the Wheeling planning commission and zoning board, said he would like to see more parking spaces and different landscapes developed throughout the park, offering a place to relax.
He said there's enough room in Heritage Park to consider an exercise path with cycling and exercise equipment. He added the park district should offer free outdoor concerts and other free community events at the park sponsored by outside vendors.
"I'd like to see our park district used in the same manner as the forest preserve," he said.
Candidate Sue Stein, 54, a schoolteacher who served on the Indian Trails Library strategic plan committee, said she would like to explore the possibility of bike paths and designated bike routes not just at Heritage Park but throughout the community. She added that the board should consider building a skate park at Heritage Park.
"I know that River Trails and Buffalo Grove park districts have skate parks," she said. "They went through and redid everything (for the master plan). It could have been put at Heritage Park. What were the issues that led us not to do that where the two neighboring districts did?"