Liberty Park is one step closer to having a splash pad after the Kewanee Park District entered an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Kewanee at the board meeting Thursday.
The agreement, approved by the board, clearly defines a 30-year time frame assigning Liberty Park in perpetuity to the park district. That time frame exceeds the life of the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant requirement, which the board hopes will move them closer to the goal of making the park feature a reality.
“It meets the requirements of the State of Illinois for the OSLAD grant,” said Executive Director of Parks, Andrew Dwyer, who recommended that the board approve the ordinance. “This is just in regards to the assignment of the property.”
After that time, the park will revert back to the 1951 ordinance that put the park in the hands of the city with care of the grounds, maintenance and improvements left to the park district.
Dwyer reported that he believes there are no issues with the district receiving the OSLAD grant this year after an issue was ironed out about whether Kewanee is considered an economically distressed community. Dwyer said he worked with the Illinois Association of Park Districts and the grant team to get that changed.
“We were able to correct those issues and now we are 100% eligible,” he told the board.
The OSLAD Program is a state-financed grant program that provides funding assistance to local government agencies for acquisition and development for public parks and open spaces. According to the Illinois website, the grants can provide up to one-half of the a project’s funds, when combined with local matching funds and since the program began in 1987, it had invested over $400 million in 1816 local park projects.
The board made another necessary step towards receiving some of those funds. One of the grant requirements is that the board formally vote to accept the application and agree to hold a public meeting. That meeting is set for August 25 at 2 pm.
The grant could provide $600,000 in funds, with $25,000 of local funding increasing the odds that the grant will be approved.
The project is in its initial stages. Dwyer said there are renderings of the splash pad and construction plans, and there are a few loose ends to tie up before the application will be submitted.
The community overwhelmingly supports the project, he said. A majority of comments from the community on a social media post were in support of such a project, although several people had questions and other ideas about where the park board should place the splash pad. Some of the questions from residents concerned the cost, including taxes and maintenance.
“We have a fairly good idea what it would cost to maintain it,” Dwyer said, and added that the community would benefit from the Liberty Park addition.
A splash pad would be more economical, he said, and could open earlier than the swimming pool and stay open later in the season. But restrooms would need to be added to the park, something that shouldn’t prove to be difficult since Liberty Park, once the home of a wading pool, has water lines that run along the north side.
“I believe this is the ideal spot for that,” Dwyer said.
Board President Steve Brackett agreed, recalling the park’s history.
“Liberty Park is a good place because nostalgia wise, there was a wading pool that used to be there,” he said. “Good memories there.”
The talk of a splash pad led to a discussion about future plans for a possible dog park, an idea that is also popular with many Kewanee residents. The location for that could be at Chautauqua Park.
“We do have a few ideas for other things that could come together in the next few years,” said Dwyer.
