Water park emerging in College Green
ELGIN -- An unexpected sound could be heard when little 7-year-old Hayden Groesser jumped from a jungle gym onto the ground of the newly renovated College Green Park on the city's west side Friday -- splash.
That's because most of the playground area, which includes swings, a seesaw and two large slides, were surrounded by large puddles of water that were created as a result of Monday's heavy rainfall.
Areas not submerged were still difficult to negotiate, as the half-dozen children who came by the park in the early afternoon soon discovered, as feet quickly sank in seemingly dry patches.
Hayden's mother, Tracy Groesser, said she was impressed with the renovations performed on the park, but was a little disappointed her three children will have to wait a little longer to take full advantage of all its new features.
"I saw the playground equipment on the city's Web site so I wanted to come over and let the kids play," she said. "I'm a little disappointed by all the water, that it didn't drain, because the kids are really excited."
The park's site was moved closer to the street along College Green Drive. The old park is currently fenced-in until grass has completed grown over the space to allow for informal green space, according to Reopelle.
A grand opening celebration for the park was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today, but has since been postponed, according to City Parks and Recreation Director Randy Reopelle.
Reopelle said the problem stemmed from a lack of a drainage system that would allow water to dissipate quicker.
As he explained, the soil below the old park site allowed for water to soak through at a faster rate, so a drainage system never needed to be installed.
"So typically we think that the soils are similar," Reopelle said. "And that the water would percolate through so when this one was designed no drainage was put in it."
Reopelle added the company contracted to renovate the park -- Bolingbrook-based The Kenneth Company -- was notified of the situation, and is expected to come back to install a drainage system. He could not estimate at this point as to when a makeup date for the grand opening would be determined.
College Green Park is one of eight park sites that underwent improvements this year.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/1099298,3_1_EL09_A1PARK_S1.article
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Attachment: 1099338,EL09_A1PARK_P2.mht
Attachment: Water park emerging in College Green The Courier News News.mht
