The Kewanee Park Board heard reports on two park construction projects at its meeting Thursday.
Executive Director Andy Dwyer updated the board on a solar canopy being built next to the 19th Hole restaurant at Baker Park, and a splash pad that will be created at Liberty Park.
Dwyer said the foundation for the solar canopy has been created at the northwest corner of the Baker Park clubhouse building.
The 30- by 60-foot canopy will generate 90 to 95 percent of the power for the 19th Hole and save the park district at great amount of money, Dwyer said,
Under the canopy there will be two gas fire pits and seating facing the nearby 18th green. The area will be handicapped-accessible, and other additions like a scoreboard are being considered.
Dwyer said it might be possible to rent out the canopy space for special events.
MSI of Kewanee is the general contractor for the job, Dwyer said.
The splash pad is being paid for with a $600,000 state Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant, and the process of drawing down the state funds takes time. Dwyer told the board the funding should be in place, and plans for the splash pad should be completed, by late this year.
The goal is to have the splash pad ready for use in the spring of 2025.
Getting the grant for the splash pad was “no small feat,” Dwyer said, and he thanked the staffs of State Sen. Norm Anderson and State Rep. Travis Weaver for their help with the grant application process.
Also Thursday:
— The board increased the yearly stipend for Mike Perva from $500 to $600. Perva does information technology work for the park district.
— Clark Blair, president of First Financial Partners in Kewanee, gave his annual report to the board on the E.E. Baker Trust.
Originally funded by stock donated by Kewanee industrialist E.E. Baker, the fund’s earnings help pay for park district operations.
Blair said that since 2003, the earnings have totaled around $2 million. But that figure is misleading, he said, because it doesn’t include substantial earnings from when the fund was created in the late 1990s until 2003.
— Dwyer reported that revenues from the 19th Hole restaurant have grown since the addition of winter hours. He said he plans to meet with restaurant staff to discuss possible menu and pricing changes.
