Fri, Jan 3: The Rec Center Fitness Floor has temporarily moved to the gym, now a fully equipped workout space, as repairs continue in the main fitness area. Learn more.
Fri, Jan 3: The Rec Center Fitness Floor has temporarily moved to the gym, now a fully equipped workout space, as repairs continue in the main fitness area. Learn more.
Join the Parks Foundation of Highland Park for its seventh annual Champions Celebration!
Champions Celebration Friday, March 14 • 6:30pm Northmoor Country Club • 820 Edgewood Road, Highland Park
Participate in the Champions Celebration Online Auction including extravagant trips and experiences, golf packages, collector items, one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia, and more!
Every year, hundreds of Highland Park and Highwood kids participate in Park District athletics programs to become champions at building their skills and love of the sport as well as learning the value of good sportsmanship. The Champions Celebration celebrates the dedicated coaches who deliver these great experiences for our community’s youth with a memorable evening. Funds raised at the event benefit the Parks Foundation of Highland Park.
The Park District of Highland Park is partnering with SaLT: Service and Learning Together to support the brave firefighters in California battling the devastating wildfires.
Each “Take Care” Package is filled with self-care items and, most importantly, heartfelt notes of appreciation and encouragement. These packages send a powerful message of support and solidarity, reminding recipients they are not alone in their challenges.
Drop-off Dates: Now – Sunday, February 9
Items Needed
Chapstick
Liquid IV
Hand/Body Lotion
Socks
Healthy Snacks
Hard Candy
Drop-Off Locations
West Ridge Center: 636 Ridge Road
Recreation Center of Highland Park: 1207 Park Avenue West
Deer Creek Racquet Club: 701 Deer Creek Parkway
Centennial Ice Arena: 3100 Trail Way
Updates from the December Park Board Meetings
December 3: Finance Committee Meeting
Staff reviewed the proposed three-year audit extension contract with Sikich. The District has had a positive experience with Sikich over the past five years.
Staff provided a detailed review of the 2025 Budget Book.
Staff recommends purchasing golf and playground equipment through a Sourcewell Purchasing contract. Staff reviewed the proposed contracts: a Toro Multipro 5800-G with GeoLink Precision Spray System from Reinder’s, Inc. and Play Equipment for the Lincoln Park and Rosewood Park Renovation projects from BCI Burke Company.
Staff received 85 bids for the New Facility and Site Improvements at West Ridge Park.
December 10: Facility and Recreation Committee Meeting
Staff reviewed the project schedule, budget, and bid results for the New Facility and Site Improvements at West Ridge Park.
December 11: Workshop Meeting of the Park Board
WT Group has completed the ADA Audit throughout District facilities and site reports. Staff are reviewing the site reports and the draft transition plan with WT and expect to present the plan with the Park Board in February.
Staff provided a recap of the final draft of the revised Employee Handbook. The Employee Handbook was revised and rewritten in its entirety.
Staff reviewed the proposed renewal terms for the 2025 License Agreement with the North Shore Yacht Club.
Staff reviewed the proposed renewal terms for the 2025 Independent Contractor Agreement between the Park District of Highland Park and The Golf Practice for golf programs and services.
Staff provided construction updates for the New Facility and Site Improvements at West Ridge Park, Club Pickle and Padel Facility project, the Recreation Center of Highland Park scheduled construction projects and emergency repairs, Old Elm and Port Clinton Playground Improvements project, Sunset Woods Park Improvements project, and Park Avenue Boating Facility North Beach Improvements project.
December 17: Special Meeting
The Parks Foundation met with the Park Board of Commissioners to present 2024 fundraising accomplishments.
December 18: Facility and Recreation Committee Meeting
Architects Holabird and Root shared facility and site renderings and presented sustainability elements for the New Facility and Site Improvements at West Ridge Park project.
December 18: Regular Meeting of the Park Board
A public hearing was held for the tax levy ordinance. Staff presented the 2025 proposed budget and the budget and appropriation ordinance.
Group Exercise Instructor, Lisa Hodges, received a Resolution Honoring her for performing lifesaving CPR to a patron at the Recreation Center of Highland Park.
The Park Board of Commissioners approved Ordinance #2024-09 – Tax Levy for 2024, Sikich 2024-2026 Audit Contract Extension, 2025 Highland Park Pops Affiliate Organization Agreement, 2025 Highland Park Players Affiliate Organization Agreement, 2025 American Youth Soccer Organization Affiliate Agreement, 2025 IAPD/IPRA Soaring to New Heights Conference Attendance, 2025 Uptown Music Theater of Highland Park Affiliate Organization Agreement, Renewal Letter of the Independent Contractor’s Agreement The Golf Practice, SourceWell Cooperative Purchasing Agreement for Golf Maintenance Equipment, Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract for Playground Equipment at Lincoln Park, Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract for Playground Equipment at Rosewood Park, Ordinance 2024-12 Authorizing and Providing for the Conveyance or Sale of Surplus Personal Property, 2025 License Agreement between the Park District of Highland Park and the North Shore Yacht Club, the Updated Policies in the Employee Handbook, and Resolution 2024-04, waiving the competitive bidding and awarding contracts for emergency restoration and preservation measures, authorizing the Executive Director to enter into agreement with Direct Fitness Solutions to purchase and install replacement fitness flooring for the Recreation Center of Highland Park.
Staff provided a progress update on the request for proposals process for the 2025 Master Plan Review and Revision project.
We’re excited to announce that the Fitness Floor at the Recreation Center is reopening in a temporary new location while we continue repairs to the main fitness area! We’ve transformed our gymnasium into a fully equipped workout space, and we can’t wait for you to experience it!
What’s New in Our Temporary Fitness Space?
Cardio Equipment: Enjoy your favorite ellipticals, stepmills and stationary bikes—all set up and ready for you!
Strength Equipment: Strength equipment, selectorized strength machines, cable machines, dumbbells barbells and all minor fitness equipment are now available in our spacious new setup.
This temporary setup is fully equipped to keep you on track with your fitness goals as we work to restore the main fitness floor. We’ve made sure you have everything you need to stay active and healthy during this transition!
Fitness Floor Progress Report
Here’s a quick update on our progress:
Completed Remediation Work We’ve successfully addressed critical areas to ensure the facility is safe and sound. Completed tasks include: ✅ Insurance process underway ✅ Water removal ✅ Flooring removal ✅ Structural repairs ✅ Equipment relocation ✅ Cardio area flooring received
Remaining Remediation Work We’ve secured contractors and materials to complete the remaining tasks, with the following next steps:
Painting: Painting is underway and will continue next week.
High dusting: This will follow the painting phase to ensure cleanliness and optimal air quality.
Flooring installation:
Cardio area flooring installation is scheduled for January 13.
Free weight, personal training studio, and stretching area flooring is ordered. We are awaiting confirmation of the shipment date and installation.
Equipment relocation: Once the flooring is installed, equipment will be carefully moved back to its original locations.
We’re making significant progress every day and are inspired by your patience and support throughout this process. It’s exciting to see the transformation taking shape, and we’re committed to delivering a refreshed, better-than-ever fitness floor.
Thank You for Your Patience! We appreciate your understanding while we make necessary repairs to the main fitness floor. We’re working hard to bring you an even better space, and in the meantime, we’re here to support you in our temporary location.
We look forward to seeing you back on the fitness floor soon!
It takes a dedicated team of expert planners, world-class landscape architects, and highly skilled craftspeople, to keep your parks beautiful and the facilities working perfectly, providing you with the recreational, fitness, and educational services you’ve come to expect from your Park District. We’d like to introduce you to some of the people who dream big, and then make sure every little detail is in place, so that you, your kids, your family, and your friends and neighbors can enjoy everything we have to offer.
The Planning and Projects team, led by Jeff Smith, our Director of Projects, Planning, and IT, works to a large degree behind the scenes, but the results are out front and visible to everyone every day. It starts with planning sessions, where big concepts like sustainability are addressed. “We are starting to take the lead on sustainability across the Park District,” said Planning Manager, Amalia Schwartz, “so we can ensure that what we do is systematic, actionable, measurable, and efficient.
Casey Lawler, Planning & Projects Supervisor, is leading the collaborative process to revise and update the Sustainability Plan. “We’ve done a great deal of research this year, looking at what cities and park districts across Illinois are doing. “We take a very holistic approach, looking at effects on the district and the community”
The new plan is due to be approved in 2025. “The plan will be robust, actionable, and impactful,” Lawler added, “and then my job will be to facilitate the implementation of that plan.”
The planning process for projects large and small that are required to keep the District running smoothly year-round is an integral part of the budgeting process. Jeff Smith explained “For our five-year Capital Plan we allocate funds and plan purchases for items over $10,000, and that happens every year. We developed a process where items in the plan have priorities, and we assign a tier to them to allocate funding. Amalia meets with every area of the district and we talk through their needs.”
Jeff’s team also includes Landscape Architect, Mike Evans—who has been with the District for more than 40 years—and Projects Manager, Ben Kutscheid, who is also a Landscape Architect with more than 30 years of experience. For planning and budgeting, Jeff said “We track the life expectancy of equipment, playgrounds, courts, and roofs—everything right down to the asphalt. I can tell you which courts are going to need to be replaced in 20 years, for example. All that comes together to inform the current plan, and in 2025 that becomes part of the budget. But our department’s plans always go out well beyond the next few years.”
L to R: Jeff Smith, Mike Evans, Amalia Schwartz, Ben Kutscheid, Casey Lawler
How does even the most experienced planning and projects team continue to know what’s best for the District? By talking to staff in every department. That’s a given. But they do something that’s even more important. They talk to you! Community outreach is an integral part of their planning process, and it informs much of what the team puts into projects like the playground renovations that are so important to families.
“We go out and meet people in the parks,” said Casey. “For example, this summer I was out at Rosewood Park, Larry Fink Park, and Lincoln Park, talking to people and sharing our plans for the playground equipment. We like to bring them options, and the community is very much involved in the process of deciding what they want in their park.” Not only does that impact the playgrounds, but it affects decisions on things that might be overlooked, but are important to people who live around the park, “like the color of a building.”
For that, Amalia added “I think the renovations at Old Elm are a good example of how we communicate and interact with the neighbors and tailor our approach for each project. We sent out a postcard that alerted everybody to the planned improvements; we distributed and analyzed the results of a survey; we held community meetings and kept everyone informed of progress on the project through our website and social media. We did have quite a bit of interest in that playground, which was expected, but throughout the process we also heard an interest in the color of the bathroom building. We responded to that interest by offering three different color options for the building and for the trim. Over the course of the survey we heard from over 70 respondents. It’s exciting and fun when people want to engage with us about the parks.”
It’s the philosophy behind how these planners engage. It’s not theory. It’s real life. Sure, it’s big concepts, but it comes down to the details that make people’s lives a little bit better every day.
This feels like a good time to tell you about some of the projects that were completed in 2024 and a few that you’ll want to watch for in 2025. The new Jeff Fox Field, at Larry Fink Memorial Park, had a celebratory Grand Opening in August. The Compton Avenue Trail project finished in July, connecting The Preserve of Highland Park’s trail system to Half Day Road. Walkers and bikers rejoiced! Up above your head, there were a number of roofs replaced, keeping us all safe and dry. Tennis players enjoyed beautiful new courts at Woodridge Park. Kennedy Park has a brand new north field backstop, and there are new Tot Lot surfaces, and a new entry walk and gates at Danny Cunniff Park. In progress for 2025 are more than a dozen significant projects, including parks, playgrounds and Tot Lots, beaches and bluffs, and the opening of Club Pickle & Padel, a state-of-the-art 50,000 square foot venue designed to bring the community together to enjoy these two great sports. And did we mention that construction of a new West Ridge Center, will start next year? Dreams becoming reality, all across your Park District.
Ben Kutscheid talked about another important project. “With Lincoln School being torn down, they’re removing the 5 to 12 year-old playground. Our original plan for Lincoln Park was to replace the 2 to 5 year-old playground. We had gone through our usual robust public process, and chosen a direction. But because of the school being demolished, the community came to us with concerns about losing their ages 5 to 12 playground. So, we changed direction and the plan now includes both playgrounds. That’s how we try to respond to community needs.”
Two playgrounds cost more than one. Unplanned costs. But because this team has extensive experience with state and federal grants, they applied for and were awarded an Open Space Land and Development grant (OSLAD). Good news for everyone, and construction is scheduled to begin in July 2025. Ben added, “Grant funding was critical in this process, and will allow us to accomplish more for the community. It’s a great story.”
You can stay up-to-date on the plans and projects you’re interested in by visiting our dedicated website section. It always has the most current information aboutyour neighborhood park and the beautiful spaces that the whole community enjoys.
As part of the team’s efforts to “meet people where they are, and not rely only on surveys” This year, Casey collaborated with the recreation department to create something unique in the ‘information gathering world’. “We joined forces with the recreation team to meet people where they are. The Recreation team planned a wonderful series of pop-ups in the parks and the planning team attended and was available to talk with community members interested in upcoming projects.” It worked like a charm. “There was a magician in a park, there was music in parks, they had arts and crafts in the parks. So, when they were out doing those pop-up events, I would be there too. It was crazy. It was huge!” Ben added, “120 people came out to watch a magician in the park!”
About the on-site listening sessions, Amalia said, “I started listening sessions in Highland Park when we did the lakefront for Master Plan update, and I was surprised at how well it worked. Sometimes I’d get tons of people, or I’d just get somebody who passed by and gave me a little piece of information that we’d never thought of. It’s a great way to get honest feedback. Last summer we went to every one of our parks at least twice, sat and talked to people. We got a lot of great information, and value the feedback from the people that depend on the parks.”
Surveys are still an important part of our process.The Summer 2024 “Your Parks, Your Perspectives” initiative involvedhundreds of interviews during dozens of park visits, plus a substantialonline survey. Read what you told us here.
Maybe you were one of those people who talked to Amalia, Ben, Casey, Mike and Jeff. Now that you know they are out there, you can add your personal experiences to the mix of great information being gathered. Perhaps now you know just a bit more about how your Park District works behind the scenes to make life better for the Highland Park and Highwood communities. The work continues, and we’ll be bringing you more stories about specific projects that were completed in 2024 and are on track to be finished in 2025. Have a question? The answer is likely on our website.
Until next time… See you around the parks!
We are happy to report that the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the Park District of Highland Park for its annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. This is the 35th consecutive year the Park District has received the award. The report has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.
The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.
Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) advances excellence in government finance by providing best practices, professional development, resources, and practical research for more than 21,000 members and the communities they serve.
Happy Holidays to you and your family! Be sure to check our holiday and New Years hours at the Park District.
Over the past month, crews have made significant progress, including installing plumbing for the clubhouse structure and electric conduits throughout the dome area. Foundations for the padel courts have been dug and poured, while concrete pads for the mechanical units and generators have been completed, with the units now delivered and set in place. Asphalt work for the pickleball and padel courts has also been finalized.
In the coming month, crews will connect the mechanical units and generators to the electrical system. New sanitary sewer service, water lines, and piping for electric service will also be installed.
The Human Resources Department is revising the current Employee Handbook. Staff reviewed proposed revisions to policies impacting work conditions (safety and security), employee benefits programs, and time off benefits.
November 13: Workshop Meeting of the Park Board
Staff reviewed the sponsorship program report comparing sponsorship and advertising partners and revenues over the last five years and 2025 plans.
Staff provided construction updates for the New Facility and Site Improvements at West Ridge Park, Club Pickle and Padel Facility project, the Recreation Center of Highland Park Construction projects, Sunset Valley Golf Club Cart Path project, Old Elm and Port Clinton Playground Improvements project, Rosewood Park Playground Replacement Design Concepts, Sunset Woods Park Improvements project, and Park Avenue Boating Facility North Beach Improvements project.
Staff provided a preview of the proposed process to update the GreenPrint Master Plan.
November 14: Finance Committee Meeting
Staff provided a brief overview of the participant survey results for the ceramics program.
Staff reviewed the bid results for the 2024 Track Aerial Lift and provided a purchase recommendation.
Staff provided a construction cost update for the Club Pickle and Padel project.
Staff reviewed the proposed 2025 Budget.
November 20: Facility and Recreation Committee Meeting
Staff reviewed the process from 2014 to develop the GreenPrint 2024 Master Plan and compared it to the proposed process to update the master plan through the next five years.
November 20: Regular Meeting of the Park Board
The Park Board of Commissioners approved the 2025 Board Meeting Calendar, 2025 IAPD/IPRA Credentials Certificate, the 2024 Track Aerial Lift Bid Purchase, Ordinance 2024-11 Authorizing and Providing for the Conveyance or Sale of Surplus Personal Property, and the Truth in Taxation Resolution #2024-02.
Staff provided an end of season lakefront report comparing attendance and revenues and expenses at Rosewood Beach from 2022 – 2024. Staff also compared actual vs. budgeted revenues and expenses for Park Avenue Beach and Boating Facility Loyalty Memberships.
ParkShop: Something Special for Everyone
Check everyone off your list with merch from your favorite Park District facilities! Proceeds from all shop sales go to the Parks Foundation of Highland Park, ensuring that every Highland Park and Highwood resident can access Park District programs.
Purchase our 10-pack of Core Plus Day Passes! Each pass includes a full facility access day to all Recreation Center of Highland Park amenities including equipment on the fitness floor, open/lap swim, running/walking track, open gym, and the entire drop-in group exercise schedule!
Park District of Highland Park gift cards are great gift ideas for teachers, kids, moms, and dads, or that “hard to buy for” friend or relative. Buy a stack of cards to keep at home for last minute gifts. Gift cards are available in any denomination. Redeemable for activities, memberships, events, admission fees and products at any Park District facility or online.
Proceeds from your donation will go toward improving our community parks and facilities. For questions and to submit forms, please contact Mike Evans at [email protected] or call 847.579.4085.
Park Tree
Choose from a selection of trees in a selected park. A 2.75” x 5” raised lettering plaque with your personalized message is displayed at the base of your tree. Orders are accepted throughout the year; plantings are dependent upon availability, season and weather.
Park benches are 6-foot-wide with a personalized 2.75” x 5” raised lettering plaque. The exact location will be coordinated at the time of purchase and is subject to approval by Park District staff.
Park Bench: $3,500 (includes warranty for 10 years)
Bricks inscribed with your personal message are available at several locations around the Park District. Orders are sent to the fabricator on March 1 and August 1 of each year.
The Parks Foundation also offers individuals and organizations the opportunity to give major gifts, such as underwriting the cost of playgrounds, buildings, and additions, or gifting an item to one of our facilities. If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, please contact Brian Romes, Executive Director of the Park District of Highland Park, at [email protected].
