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player ready...Residents of a low-income neighborhood of west Elgin won’t be getting a new park, as expected, this year.
The Elgin Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday night voted instead to use the $150,000 available through the city’s Park Development Fund to renovate Gifford Park, which is east of downtown.
The proposed Zayre Park would have been built on a vacant parcel on Mulberry Lane amid several apartment buildings in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood.
Board members expressed concern that no one from that area attended a recent meeting to discuss the creation of the park, suggesting there might be a lack of interest there in the project.
“The community needs to be involved,” said Maria Compata, recreation superintendent. “Without their backing, you don’t have anyone looking after it.”
Another meeting will be held this fall to gauge neighborhood interest in a park. If there’s enough interest, board members said, a park could be built in spring 2000.