Wheaton overhauling one of its oldest parks

More than 70 years ago, a marshy area on the north side of Wheaton was drained and transformed into a public park, complete with a hand-dug lagoon and the first public swimming pool in DuPage County.

But after decades of shoreline erosion and unchecked development upstream, the lagoon was becoming shallow with sediment, and Northside Park was in jeopardy of once again becoming marsh land.

Now Wheaton Park District is doing more than reclaiming the 70-acre park near Prairie Avenue and Main Street. Its roughly $8 million, three-phase renovation of Northside will beautify the park and enhance recreation programs.

And for flood-weary homeowners and businesses along North Main Street, the project could bring some long-sought relief.

The city's North Main Street flood control project, which includes installing a bridge where two culverts now stand near the intersection of Main and Cole Avenue, is expected to start in the spring. An engineering services agreement related to the project is slated to be approved during tonight's city council meeting. With funding already in place, acquiring several easements are the only obstacles that remain before construction of the bridge can begin, officials said.

Coupled with the stormwater improvements to Northside Park, the larger opening under Main Street will allow more water to flow into the park.

The goal is to have the roadway and properties in the area flood less frequently, according to Paul Redman, the city's director of engineering.

"It doesn't eliminate flooding," Redman said Friday. "But it will reduce the occurrence of flooding."

Redman said flooding will still occur during heavy rainfalls, like those the suburbs experienced earlier this summer.

Still, city and park district officials agree that simply reducing the frequency of Main Street floods will be a welcomed change.

"Flooding is an issue that central DuPage County is going to have to deal with forever," said Mike Benard, executive director of the park district. "If there are places where we can mitigate a partial solution, it's very exciting.

"On top of that, Northside Park is a great park," he added. "It's one of the oldest parks in Wheaton. It has needed attention for a long, long time."

The first phase of the restoration, which is slated to be completed this month, focused a great deal on stormwater improvements.

Rob Sperl, park district director of planning, said crews added native plants along the edges of the lagoon to prevent erosion. And a settling basin was created on the north end of the park to trap further sediment and debris before it reaches the lagoon, Sperl said.

To help water flow faster through the park, a deteriorating spillway on the southwest end of the park was removed and is being replaced.

In addition, three old bridges were replaced, two new bridges were constructed, 10 docks were installed around the lagoon and the height of the sled hill was increased.

As part of the second phase of the Northside project, a company will be hired to start the multiyear process of dredging the lagoon and restoring its original depth of six to 10 feet.

Sperl said he doesn't anticipate the lagoon's sediment problems returning once the dredging is complete.

"It's still going to happen," he said. "We're going to see some sediment. It shouldn't be as bad."

Other upgrades planned as part of the second phase include replacing and reconfiguring the parking lots, replacing light poles and adding LED lights along pathways. The details of the third phase haven't been finalized.

Benard said he's pleased to see work in full swing more than two decades since the initial plans to revamp Northside Park were drafted.

"It's a great example of intergovernmental cooperation," Benard said. "Everybody came together to solve the problem. Now here we are with the completion of phase one, which is the most critical phase as it relates to managing stormwater."

In the meantime, city officials are trying to address persistent flooding throughout the community. Wheaton even has a stormwater engineer on staff who is working to develop strategies for reducing flooding issues.

"Sometimes when we get a July storm, it's kind of hard for people to understand that we are working on reducing flooding," Redman said. "But there are storms that come, and it's beyond the control of any engineering project that we have."