Naperville names plaza as work on gathering place progresses
Even as the state's stay-at-home order keeps residents in their homes, construction is continuing on a gathering plaza in south Naperville that someday aims to help people come together.
The Naperville park board approved a name for the project Thursday, choosing 95th Street Community Plaza, based on the location between the 95th Street Library and the Neuqua Valley High School Birkett Freshman Center.
Construction is expected to be complete this summer on the $3.6 million plaza, and the park district plans to schedule a grand opening once public health guidelines allow.
The plaza's opening will fulfill an idea brought forward by Karen Dunford, manager of the 95th Street Library. Dunford wanted a park near the library to better connect it with the nearby schools, stores and Frontier Sports Complex and to give patrons an outdoor space to read and enjoy.
The plaza, designed by Hitchcock Design Group, will fill a 2-acre space that used to be overrun with prairie grasses. It will include a storybook playground, a splash pad, seating, shade canopies, walkways, restrooms and native plant restoration along a pond shoreline. The centerpiece will be Wagner Family Pavilion, a performance pavilion overlooking a lawn for seating and recreational activities.
Pulte Homes, which is building the Wagner Farms subdivision nearby, is partially funding the project with development fees and a donation in collaboration with the Wagner family.
Park board members also have voted to rename a youth baseball field at Knoch Park to call it Memorial Field. The field, formerly called Field 5, is named to remember baseball community players, coaches, volunteers and parents.
A group of residents working in collaboration with Naperville Little League has raised funds to buy a new scoreboard for Memorial Field, which will be dedicated to Justin Wegner, a Naperville baseball player who died from cancer.