New playground slated for Grant Township could be in place this summer

A new, larger playground is coming to the Field of Dreams in Grant Township.

Township Supervisor Kay Starostovic said the new playground will feature slides, two climbing walls, monkey bars and swings, and will be open for children ages 5 through 12. It will be about 60 feet by 80 feet in size.

“There will be all kinds of amenities for children of all ages,” she said. “It’ll mostly be for the older children, but we will bring our tot playground lot over there for the younger kids to play on.”

Starostovic said the township has just gone out for bids to purchase and install the equipment at the new playground. She said those bids are expected to come in about $258,000.

Currently, the only playground at Field of Dreams is the township’s small “tot lot,” which is designed for children up to the age of 4. The tot lot will be incorporated into the new playground, officials said.

The playground was part of the original concept for the Field of Dreams when it was built more than a decade ago.

Starostovic said the plan was always to have four baseball fields, a couple of soccer and football fields, and a large playground.

However, the funding wasn’t there until new home developments started coming in to Volo in the past decade providing financial donations from builders.

“The township has been accumulating money for this through home developments and our own fundraisers,” Starostovic said. “We hope to have the playground completed this summer, but that depends on whether everything falls in place in time.”

The new playground and adjoining parking lot will be compliant with the American Disability Association, Starostovic said, and will link people to the other amenities at Field of Dreams.

“We are very excited about it,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming. We have tried for grants to get the money, but we’ve always been turned down. But, we decided to step up and get it built now because playgrounds aren’t getting any cheaper.”