New name, new purpose for Lake Zurich park
Lake Zurich's Kuechmann Park has been a little known, and even less often used, asset for the village since it opened nearly three decades ago at 626 N. Old Rand Road.
Village leaders hoped that changes with an ambitious plan formally launched Wednesday to rebrand the park and turn it into an homage to the community's old oaks and other trees.
The new Kuechmann Arboretum will highlight the oaks, maples and boxelders on the 7.8-acre site and feature walking paths, picnic tables and benches, and three interpretive learning kiosk stations.
The village is working with volunteers to rehabilitate the existing walking trail, remove invasive buckthorn and huckleberry, and install pollinator vegetation.
Among those joining Mayor Tom Poynton for a ceremony Wednesday to mark the change were members of the Kuechmann family. The park is named after Alton M. Kuechmann, Lake Zurich's mayor from 1953 to 1957.
Work is expected to be complete in 2020.