Elk Grove park's $2 million upgrade includes concessions, bathrooms

The Elk Grove Village Park District will spend $2 million to replace a concession stand, bathrooms and maintenance buildings at its largest outdoor recreation complex.

The park district is getting rid of a cluster of seven small buildings in the middle of Community Athletic Fields, the district's 23-acre park on the southeast corner of Arlington Heights Road and Devon Avenue in Itasca.

In their place, two new amenity buildings covering 2,800 square feet will be constructed, housing bathrooms, concessions, storage and mechanical equipment. In between will be a shade structure covering a 900-square-foot patio.

Maintenance equipment now housed near the existing bathrooms and concession stand will be moved into a new 800-square-foot building, to be built on the west side of the park, displacing five parking spaces.

Tom Busby, the park district's executive director, said the new layout should make for more efficient operations.

The project marks the first major renovation at the park since it opened in 1993. The complex is especially popular in the summertime, with its four baseball/softball fields, two football/soccer fields and practice areas.

Park district officials have been discussing renovating the park for five years and, at one point, considered adding field turf to the football field on the southern portion of the site. But it was later deemed to be too costly and not needed because of the condition of the grass fields, Busby said.

"We're really happy with our grass fields out there. They are in great shape," Busby said. "Our staff does an amazing job maintaining them. Even though people talk about turf fields, we think our grass fields are second to none."

There also was discussion about pursuing state park grants for the project, until those funds dried up, Busby said.

The district plans to pay for the renovations from its corporate fund balance, which sits at $5.8 million.

When the park opened in 1993, the park district and Itasca entered into an intergovernmental agreement that annexed the property into Itasca, with the village granting a special use for a park with recreational and playground facilities. The Itasca board on Feb. 16 will consider an amendment to the special use to allow for the renovation. The board took its first look at the project earlier this week, and the plan commission previously recommended approval.

Pending approval, parks officials plan to go out to bid, then begin construction in July. The new buildings should be ready by spring 2017. During construction, portable toilets will be available.