More green planned for Century Park in Vernon Hills
Plans are proceeding for a gateway feature that has been missing from Vernon Hills' marquee Century Park.
"Century Park is a beautiful park, but what it really didn't have was an entrance," said David Doerhoefer, president of the Vernon Hills Park District.
A landscaped entry is considered a key in a $600,000 plan to increase green space and make the area on the southern end of the largest park in Vernon Hills more user-friendly.
"The signage will be a lot more inviting than one of our typical redwood signs," Executive Director Jeff Fougerousse explained Tuesday to village trustees.
"It's our flagship park for the community. We want people who are coming down into that area off Lakeview and Hawthorn Parkway (to know) that this is an extension of Century Park," he added.
At 113 acres of land and water, including two lakes, it is hard to miss the amenity-packed green space stretching north and west of Lakeview and Hawthorn parkways in a dense commercial area.
The corner overlooking Little Bear Lake had been home to a series of restaurants, ending with Opa!, which was on the market for years without a taker.
Eventually, the 3-acre site was pitched for residential development, but village officials twice rejected proposals as being too dense for an already busy area.
The solution was a cooperative effort initiated by Mayor Roger Byrne to extend open space. Vernon Hills contributed $1.5 million and the park district $750,000 to buy the property from developer Seymour "Sy" Taxman.
That deal was inked in 2015 and the restaurant demolished. The park district is responsible for the design and development of the site.
As part of the plan, all but 36 of the existing 175 parking spaces and a basketball court will be removed. That hard surface has been the base for a stage used by performers during the popular Summer Celebration and Little Bear Ribfest festivals.
"We want green," said Doerhoefer. That arrangement will provide space for farmers markets, craft fairs and other activities.
In turn, the stage site will be moved about 100 feet to an area that will be reinforced with a product called "grasscrete" - a system of concrete voids that provides stability for trucks or equipment but allows grass to grow.
"Now, when we take the stage away, that concrete slab will be gone and it will be all grass," Doerhoefer said.
Walkways also will be reconfigured to provide more green space and better flow during big events, and a restroom will be installed.
Work will begin in late August or early September and the site ready in spring 2019.