Playground equipment, gazebo being installed at Carpentersville park

Construction on a roughly $1 million improvement project at Carpenter Park is making significant progress, largely thanks to this winter's unusually mild weather, Carpentersville officials say.

Playground equipment is almost completely installed, a new gazebo is going up quickly, and work is moving forward on other amenities included in project plans, such as a baseball field and a disc golf course, Public Works Director Bob Cole said.

If the project continues at this pace, Cole said, the upgraded park could open in early to mid-May. "Everything hinges upon the weather," he said.

It's been more than two years since equipment, restroom shelters and basketball courts were removed from the park, leaving it nearly empty in anticipation of the renovation. But the project was halted in March 2015 when the state froze funding for park projects across Illinois, including a $400,000 matching grant awarded to Carpentersville.

Village officials waited more than a year before receiving a letter in August from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources saying the funds were being released.

Chicago-based Elanar Construction began work on the project last fall, Cole said.

In addition to some of the larger park improvements, he said, contractors have been grading a rain garden south of the parking lot and installing concrete pads along an anticipated walking path where three interpretive signs will be located.

Work has yet to begin on a basketball court, bean bag toss games near the gazebo or a serenity garden at the Veterans Garden memorial.

Cole said he expects the park to open to the public all at once rather than in phases, and he plans to ask the village board to hold a grand opening once it's ready.

"I remember playing in Carpenter Park when I was a kid," he said. "It's just exciting to see these improvements are going to be made for generations to come."

Trustee Pat Schultz, chairwoman of the parks and special events commission, said residents have been long awaiting the day they'll be able to once again use the park and all its amenities, particularly the playground. Upon completion of the Carpenter Park project, she said, officials will be able to begin planning more events at the village's flagship park.

"I really think it's going to be a wonderful upgrade," she said. "It's a very important part of our Old Town area."