Capital Projects

Thanks to the assistance of a $300,000 DCEO and a $90,000 OSLAD acquisition grant the District was able to acquire the 1 acre parcel at 314 N. Grant St. and the .44 acre parcel at 350 N. Grant St. to create a future 1.44 acre neighborhood Park.  In January of 2024 the District was award a $228,000 OSLAD development grant to assist with the development of Westmont’s newest neighborhood park.  Construction is scheduled to begin late spring 2025 and is expected to be completed by the fall.  Improvements will be consistent with other neighborhood parks of similar size and include: a 20’ x 20’ open air picnic shelter, playground, open play space, native planting areas, drinking fountain and full ADA access.

In 2022 The District was replacing the original wooden pole athletic field lights on Field 1 along 59^th St.  It was discovered at this time that the foul line fencing, dugouts, first base lights and spectator spaces were constructed in the 59^th St. Right of Way in the early 1970’s before the original unimproved 59^th St. was widened.  To rectify this issue and create more distance between the field, the bleachers and general spectator areas, the District decided to slide the field north 25’.  This modification will place the new right field foul poles on the outside of the foul line fence and allow for the creation of a traditional parkway with public sidewalk along 59^th St.  Construction is scheduled to be complete April 2025.

The nearly 40 year old backstop on the Field 2 softball field is being replaced.  Completion is schedule for March 2025.

This improvement is a result of two years of discussion and planning in order to meet the needs of multiple special interest groups who use District facilities.  It is inherently linked to two other projects, all of which are connected by a construction timeline and will fall like dominoes as each one progresses.

The existing wood ramp bike/skate park on 63^rd St. is 21 years old.  It is beyond routine maintenance having reached the end of its useful life.  The old preschool at Diane Main Park is no longer in use.  Originally built as an open air hexagon gazebo, it is too expensive to update this very small building to meet current codes for public use.  Additionally, the growing demand for pickle ball has created a need to find permanent space for a grouping of outdoor pickle ball courts.  The combination of these needs has led to the placement of the new All Wheels Park at Diane Main Park where the preschool had stood near the parking lot and tennis courts.  Once the old preschool is demolished a concrete park designed by Spohn Ranch, renowned skate park design company out of California, will begin.  Spohn Ranch’s own crews of excavation, concrete and custom steel experts will  construct this unique park that will be as much a piece of art in the landscape as it is fun.

Over the previous year Spohn Ranch engaged the users of the existing park on social media and in person to garner their input driving the final design of the proposed park.  Users of the park who provided feedback ranged in age from elementary school kids to individuals in their 50’s.  All Wheels parks are not just for the kids, mature adults love to ride them as well.  Key participants in the new design happened to be members of the core group of high school students who petitioned for and helped design the original park in 2003 which led to its opening in 2004.  When finished the park will be enclosed by a 4’ fence and have its own rain garden to control storm water runoff and improve water quality before entering St. Joseph’s Creek.

This improvement is a result of two years of discussion and planning in order to meet the needs of multiple special interest groups who use District facilities.  It is inherently linked to two other projects, all of which are connected by a construction timeline and will fall like dominoes as each one progresses.

Upon the completion and opening of the Diane Main Park All Wheels Park the existing skatepark ramps will be removed.  The reinforced concrete slab remains in excellent condition making it easy to convert into 6 pickle ball courts.  The facility is also lit for night play and is located in close proximity to the parking lot and restrooms.  The courts will also be adjacent to 63^rd St. making it an ideal location for pickle ball which has a reputation for crating noise pollution from the “clicking” of the ball on the paddle.  A shade structure will be added for players who like to spend their afternoon rotating play and socializing.

For 25 years the mechanical and filtration system for the spray park was housed in two underground vaults.  The equipment is reaching the end of its useful life due to age and harsh underground conditions.  The vaults also experienced multiple floods regardless of a backup sump pump and generator.  Removal of these vaults also eliminates a confined space hazard.  The construction of a 10’ x 14’ pump house will protect the parks equipment and filtration system creating a safer work environment for the maintenance staff.  Anticipated completion is late June 2025 pending the approval of a State required Illinois Department of Public Health construction permit.  The IDPH permit process is known to be a long and demanding experience.  It is possible that the permit, and therefore the seasonal opening of the spray park, may be delayed.

With the assistance of the Village of Westmont, the District plans to permit and install a digital sign on the north side of Bellerive Park along 63^rd St.  A digital sign will improve the District’s and Village’s marketing opportunities while sharing important community information on a heavily travelled DuPage County road.

This attractive state of the art multi-purpose building is small yet it has great impact and will serve Westmont for many decades to come.  Park Place replaced the District’s oldest building and first maintenance garage.  Located at Veterans Memorial Park at Lou Cimera Field, the old garage served as storage space, home to the District’s summer camp program and provided seasonal outdoor public restrooms.  These restrooms also supported the baseball program and picnic rentals at the adjacent pavilion.  The previous facility was old, unsightly and beyond repair.  Furthermore, sections were unsafe and closed off from public use.  The plan was to demolish the old building to make way for a multi-purpose facility that would provide year round use, increase programming opportunities, be available for public rental, have indoor and outdoor restrooms all in a setting that let the outdoors in and indoors out.  Williams Architects were the designers.  Their team created a superb space that fits perfectly into its setting.

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The forty-year-old picnic shelter at Veterans Memorial Park was in need of maintenance and a facelift.  The completion of the adjacent multi-purpose building, Park Place, further emphasized the need for improvement to upgrade the picnic grove, the pavilions appearance and the experience for groups renting the facility.  Improvements included the replacement of the aging shingle roof with a standing seam metal roof, painting and staining of the pavilion, new lights and lowering of the brick columns to open views and help it visually compliment Park Place.

The Gregg House Museum at Veterans Memorial Park, owned by the Westmont Park District and operated by the Westmont Historical Society, is Westmont’s oldest home.  Constructed in 1872 by William Gregg, this home can be difficult to upkeep and preserve.  Worst of these elements were the unique windows.  Windows on the first floor are original though the original glass had been replaced.  Second floor windows are reconstructed versions of the original.  All were in poor condition with rot, broken glass and missing parts.  The District worked with TMC Historic Window Restoration Company.  One by one, or four at time, the windows were removed and taken to TMC’s shop where they were painstakingly taken apart, repaired and fully restored.  If a sash, piece of trim or pulley needed to be replaced it was recreated to perfectly match the original.  The Gregg House windows are weather tight and ready to bare the elements for decades to come.  The District would like to thank the Westmont Historical Society for its $15,000 contribution toward the restoration of these historic windows.

Thanks to a $90,000 OSLAD Acquisition Grant and a $200,000 DCEO development grant the District was able to acquire a residential lot on the south end of Fritz Werley Park to expand the Park’s open space and make significant improvements at two park sites.  Our second oldest playground was replaced at Fritz Werley Park with a new Landscape Structures play structure increasing the play value for children.  An interior pathway was installed creating a complete walking loop around the park connecting it to the playground and a new 20’ x 20’ open air shelter.  At James Long Park two new pickle ball courts were constructed, the sand volleyball court was relocated to make way for the pickle ball courts and new lights were added to provide night time play at the pickle ball and sand volleyball courts.

Utilized 7 days a week, 362 days a year the parking lot asphalt surface had reached the end of its useful life after years of patching.  The entire surface, base course and sections of the stone base were removed and replaced with a new asphalt surface to extend the parking lots useful life and improve safety and accessibility for patrons visiting the Club.  Shortly after the replacement of the lot the parking lot lights were replaced with new LED lights connected to a cloud based timer and iphone app improving night time visibility and safety at the Club.

With the assistance of $284,389 in ComEd Efficiency grants the District was able to upgrade the following lighting systems to LED with a cloud based app.  These new LED control systems provide increased efficiency giving District employees the ability to control lights at numerous park sites with the click of a button on their iPhone.  No longer do patrons and athletic teams have to wait for the old lighting systems to burn up to full light intensity.  Now, they are instant on and off at any time extending the useful life of these systems well into the future.

Improvements included the athletic field lights and pathway lights at Ty Warner Park, Athletic lights plus one new pole at James Long Park and the pathway lights at Bellerive Park which included additional lights to provide opportunities for night time soccer practice.

The 5-12 year old play structure and swings at Williams Cove Park was the District’s oldest playground.  It was replaced with a colorful new Landscape Structures play structure and swing set with greater play value.

Often referred to as the most popular piece of play equipment in Westmont, this is the third zipline installed at the Veterans Memorial Park destination playground.  Originally designed and fabricated in Germany, it became difficult to obtain replacement parts for the original zipline.  Inability to obtain parts on an aging zipline demanded the replacement of this incredibly popular piece.  Fortunately, American playground manufacturers have begun designing and fabricating fun high quality ziplines making them more affordable to purchase and easier to maintain.  The District installed a new Burke Play Equipment ZipKrooz zipline.

Softball field 3 has not been utilized in many years.  It is too close to the picnic pavilion and sand volleyball court for competitive play.  Poor drainage has also hampered use and maintenance efforts on the field.  The old backstop, players benches and infield were removed.  The area was graded, drain tile added before being restored with grass seed.  When fully restored to turf the space will be utilized for open play and a small tot soccer field.

The playground at Ty Warner Park is the District’s largest destination playground.  It is also entering its 26^th year.  Over the last two decades there has been improvements and ongoing maintenance, though not much change to the play elements.  In 2023 District Staff and Park Board discovered an in-ground trampoline they felt would be great fun and a great addition to one of its playgrounds.  The tot playground at Ty Warner Park had a grass berm that was not used as a play element, plus, it was difficult to maintain inside the playground.  The plan was to remove the berm for the installation of the in-ground trampoline. This was completed in the fall of 2024.  The surrounding space was restored with synthetic play surface to improve accessibility and ease of maintenance around the trampoline.

In response to the growing demands of our operations, we have implemented a new financial software suite designed exclusively for local governments. This upgrade consolidates all our financial data into one platform, eliminating duplicate data entry and empowering our team with real-time dashboards and custom reports for data-driven decision making. With advanced project accounting capabilities, we can instantly track project budgets and drill down into transaction details, while an enhanced human resources module streamlines our personnel tracking beyond outdated paper and Excel methods. This essential upgrade has significantly increased our efficiency and ensured that we manage our resources responsibly for the benefit of the community.

Time and Mother Nature have weathered and deteriorated the interpretive signs at Smith Woods, Diane Main Park and Ty Warner Park.  New colorful and visually exciting signs with modern UV resistant materials were fabricated to replace the existing signs at these three parks.

The original aging chain link batting cages were removed having reached the end of their useful life.  Additionally, the old style cages were the equivalent of a chain link box that allowed balls to ricochet off the poles and fence fabric.  In 2023 the District installed new modern batting cages with cantilevered netting that hangs inside and away from the support poles.  The new cages are safer and easier to use.  The nets are also easily removed at the end of season to prevent winter snow and ice damage, same as with the newer cages at Veterans Memorial Park.