Homewood-Flossmoor Park District administrators were excited to learn that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources had awarded the park district a $600,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) matching grant for improvements at Irwin Park.
Park staff had been discussing the need for updates since 2023. It hired Upland Design Ltd., a firm that designs outdoor spaces, to give suggestions on how best to update the playground area near the west edge of the park on Ridge Road between Gottschalk and Highland Avenues in Homewood.
Doug Boehm, executive director of the park district, said much of what Upland Design had proposed in January 2024, including an ADA accessible playground, a rain garden, and a covered space for senior citizens, will all be considered when the board makes its final plans. The project could take up to two years to design and build.
“You don’t get to revisit the redevelopment of a major park like this that often,” he said. “Considering how many people this park serves, we’re going to do everything we can.”
“We’re beyond grateful to the state of Illinois for this award,” said Brent Bachus, president of the park board, said at the board’s Dec. 17 meeting. “This is an awesome opportunity for us to redevelop one of our community’s most popular, busiest parks. It really is open for all levels of recreation on so many different forms.”
Bachus said the grant award and future improvements “will further allow us to celebrate the legacy of Richard Irwin who in 1985 gave a $2 million donation to make that park possible.”
Irwin had a publishing business in buildings across the street from what today is Irwin Park. There were schools on the east and west edges of the site that were torn down and District 153 made the land available for sale.
