The Park District of Oak Park is collecting locals’ thoughts on future plans for renovations and updates to Barrie Park.
Three community meetings have been held in preparation for creating a master plan for Barrie Park, said Diane Stanke, spokeswoman for the Park District of Oak Park, and a fourth was scheduled for May 13. Online questionnaires also have sought opinions on possible changes that could be made to the park.
Community input will be brought to the Park Board in June; Barrie Park wouldn’t see any improvements before 2019, Stanke said. Master site plans have been created for all of Oak Park’s 18 parks since 2005.
“This is a master plan. This is not like stuff that’s going to happen next year,” said Lauren VanderBerg, a member of the Park District Citizen Committee who has been heavily involved in Barrie Park planning updates.
About 100 people provided input for the second questionnaire, and results were reviewed at the April 22 meeting, Stanke said. Opinions were split on keeping the park’s natural grass or installing a synthetic turf sports field, as well as on a rustic versus modern playground.
Because there are so many elements to the park — including Barrie Center, the adjoining tot lot, sport courts and water reservoir, and the sports fields, playground and sled hill across the street — there have been plenty of different ideas for it, VanderBerg said.
“It’s certainly not just a neighborhood park, it’s a community park,” Stanke said. “This is very complex.”
Stanke and VanderBerg said other ideas have included moving the playground from the south end of the park to the north and relocating the tot lot with it; making the sled hill less steep for safety reasons; installing a partial roof and tables where the sport courts are; and installing a speed table on Lombard Avenue to slow traffic that drives by Barrie Center.
Members of local sports organizations and the South East Oak Park Community Organization have been present at the meetings, Stanke said, and there’s been good input from athletics parents and people who want open areas for passive use.
Consultant Altamanu, Inc., of Chicago may need to bring more than one plan to the table since there has been lots of discussion regarding park updates, she added.
Barrie Park, the home of a manufactured gas plant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was remediated in the early 2000s, Stanke said. Cleaning the area took about five years, and the park reopened in 2005.
When remediation was done, underground clay was compacted, which keeps the area from draining well after rainfall and can prompt closure of the sports fields for periods of time, Stanke said.
Artificial turf would address that problem if installed, she said. If natural grass fields are chosen, some of the clay will need to be removed.
“I think anything they do, they will have to address the field and the soil,” VanderBerg said. “I think the designers are really listening and they’re trying to accommodate as many people as they can.”
Stanke and VanderBerg encouraged residents to fill out the questionnaire and attend the next meeting to voice their opinions. For more information, visit http://www.pdop.org/about/park-planning-projects/.
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.