Elgin's Lords Park will get a new playground

The city of Elgin is planning to replace the 31-year-old playground equipment at Lords Park, one of the most popular in the city.

The new playground will cost nearly $100,000, including nearly $60,000 from the city and $40,000 in matching grant money, an expense was approved by the city council earlier this month. Removal and installation will cost $170,000, which the city council approved Wednesday night after awarding a contract to GLI Services Inc., the lowest among 10 bidders.

“That playground was well past its useful life, so it's going to be a good thing,” Parks and Recreation Director Maria Cumpata said.

The playground equipment will be removed after Labor Day and the new one, to be purchased from the company GameTime, will be installed by Nov. 1. The expense will come out of the Riverboat fund, the city's share of gambling revenues from Grand Victoria Casino.

The new playground will have two slides and a variety of equipment for balancing, spinning, sliding, climbing, swinging and brachiating, or pendulum-like movement.

The Lords Park playground was installed in 1989 and it's near the tennis courts, Lords Park Farm Zoo and the Elgin Public Museum, making it especially popular among families. Cumpata estimated that upwards of 50,000 people use it annually.

The Illinois Park and Recreation Association recommends playgrounds have a life span of 15 years. Repair parts for the current playground are no longer available, which means components have to be removed if damaged, city officials said.

GameTime has worked with the Illinois Park and Recreation Association and the Illinois Park and Recreation Foundation to make matching grants available for playground projects in the last two years. Elgin's parks and recreation department was selected for a $40,000 matching grant.

In return, the Lords Park playground will be part of a national network of research playgrounds for GameTime's parent company, PlayCore: there will be a sign with a QR code and website for playground users to participate in a survey asking how long and how often they use the playground, how much they enjoy it, and more.