The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District board on Tuesday, Dec. 2, awarded the contract to Innovation Landscape of Oswego for work to be done at Irwin Park.
The company was the lowest among several bidders for the work. Innovation Landscape will be paid $570,200 for site preparation and installation of the new playground.
The estimate for the total renovation work is $1.2 million. Park commissioners and staff had been discussing the need for updates at Irwin Park since 2023. The board moved forward after receiving a $600,000 Illinois Department of Natural Resources Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) matching grant.
The park board earlier agreed to purchase the new play equipment this year from Sourcewell for $252,032, saving on expected 2026 price increases. The playground equipment is geared for kids ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12. The play area will get a shade structure.
In spring park district staff will be taking the old play equipment down and removing the one ball field in the park. The plan calls for a new game area with a shade structure, a game table and game-disc connect. The area also will get a rain garden with a pergola, a swing bench and a stationary bench.
The park district started on the renovation project in summer 2025 when an ADA-compliant ramp off of Gottschalk Avenue was installed to give easy access to the play area to children with special needs.
