Carpentersville OKs study to spruce up park
Carpentersville leaders have authorized a five-year master plan for Carpenter Park, one that would set goals for ways to improve the park and attract more visitors.
At 10 acres, Carpenter Park, originally a nine-hole golf course, is the largest park in the village and the most widely used, according to Community Development Director James Hock.
The park now features picnic areas, a playground, a baseball field, a veterans memorial and open space.
It is also the site of the annual Chicago Cyclocross Cup, a bicycle race in which cyclists ride through a ditch, dismount their bikes and carry them while running up a steep hill. They also maneuver through a sand pit.
Earlier last week, the village board authorized $8,800 for Plainfield-based Upland Design to create the plan and come up with ideas for getting better use out of the park.
The master plan would list recommendations of things that could be done to enhance it and could be implemented in phases.
Some of those ideas include increasing its accessibility and ease of use for all people, restoring and enhancing its natural areas, improving the existing ballfield, renovating and relocating the basketball courts and playground, highlighting Veterans Garden, and installing a multiuse path with connections to current and future paths.
As part of the deal, Upland Design also would prepare and submit grant applications on the village's behalf for some of the recommended improvements, Hock said.
The study is expected to be completed by the end of April.
“We want this acted on fairly quickly so that we can make some grant applications,” Hock said.