The city does not have enough park land. But it does have a master plan and it has some money.
Now city officials want to show their plan to residents and get their thoughts on where to develop the new parks.
A meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the Park District Leisure Center, 3 S 260 Warren Ave.
A draft of the recently unveiled master plan shows that Warrenville is woefully short of park land. Its 10 acres of neigborhood park land is less than half of what experts contend a city of its size, with more than 11,000 people, should have.
The 22 acres of the larger community parks that are usable are about one-third of what the city should have, according to Matthew Ellman, Park District director.
Ellman pointed to the area north of Warrenville Road and east of Batavia Road as an example of where the city has a lot of people-he estimates between 1,500 and 2,000-and no park land.
The plan outlines where parks are needed. It also lists approximate costs of buying and developing the land.
But Ellman cautioned that until the city actually starts negotiating with land owners or begins construction, it really is not clear how much money will be needed to turn individual pieces of property into parks.
At stake is how the city will spend the money it has allotted for parks, now about $850,000. That figure could climb past $1 million with matching state funds, Ellman said.
Ellman said he expects the first new park to be built in the area bounded by Butterfield Road, Illinois Highway 59 and Batavia Road.
“There are a couple of parcels for sale in that area,” he said.
He said the park should be built by the end of 1994.
The plan could add between 3 and 10 acres of park to the city, and upgrade existing parks. He estimated that it costs about $175,000 to buy and develop an acre of park land.