Smith Park to receive $700K in improvements
By Jennifer Nunez
The grass could be greener in West Town after a $712,000 planned overhaul of Smith Park at 2526 W. Grand Ave. Improvements could be made as early as the fall.
Proposed renovations grew out of the Smith Park Advisory Council’s survey of the community, which found locals wanted major improvements. The improvement plan specifies new playground equipment, fencing, and landscaping.
“Ideally, the council would like to see Smith Park become a 'green' park that is environmentally friendly and includes items such as native landscaping, storm water management, and rain barrels,” said Kathy McCabe, the advisory council’s president. The council has met with Christy Webber Landscapes to assist the effort.
It also met with representatives from the Chicago Center for Green Technology, which is dedicated to aiding in cost effective, environmentally friendly building and landscape design through green technology. The center’s building, “green” since its 2002 renovations, is only the third in the United States to be designed according to the highest green technology standards.
The park has not received any capital improvements in the past few years, and according to the Chicago Park District it has not undergone any major modifications since September 2005, when workers resurfaced two tennis courts. The council has lobbied the City and 26th Ward Alderman Billy Ocascio for funding, however, which netted Smith Park the money needed for the rehab effort.
McCabe said Ocascio has promised $100,000 from discretionary funds at his disposal. Another $512,000 will come from tax increment financing, with the Chicago Park District contributing the remaining $100,000.
Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, the park district’s director of communications and marketing, stated the advisory council currently is deciding on a playground design.
“A good portion of the TIF funds will be going towards the playground equipment,” McCabe explained. “The Chicago Park District has indicated that the park will be receiving new playground equipment this fall or in spring 2008.”
Smith Park originally served as a city dump until it was turned into a park in 1929. The old Chicago Bureau of Parks and Recreation maintained it before it became part of the Chicago Park District in 1959. It is named for Joseph Higgins Smith, Alderman of the 32nd Ward from 1914 to 1933.
The park’s features include a spraypool, swimming pool, bathhouse, brick recreation building, and an athletic field that is flooded in the winter for ice skating. The gym is named for the late Tom Positano, a high school student who had been active at the park.
Smith Park offers men’s basketball, co-rec volleyball, little league baseball, and pottery classes. It also runs clubs for toddlers, teens, and seniors. The next round of clubs and classes starts this month.
In the coming months, the council will work with the park district to create a master plan for the park. Then the community will prioritize the plan’s components, with council continuing fundraising efforts.
“The Smith Park Advisory Council is committed to making Smith Park a beautiful user-friendly park,” McCabe said.
Those interested in becoming involved with the council and helping create the master plan should e-mail McCabe at kmm@cs-g.com.
