The Waukegan Park District is hosting an ADA Community Input Open House to provide the public with an update on our progress implementing our ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Transition Plan and provide an opportunity for public input from the community. The in-person community event is on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at the Administrative Center located at 1324 Golf Road, Waukegan, IL.
The Waukegan Park District is updating its Strategic Plan and Community Needs Assessment, which serves as a roadmap for improving the District’s overall services to the community. The survey phase, conducted in partnership with aQity Research, has been completed. We are now using the community feedback gathered to shape the new Strategic Plan for 2025. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their input to help us plan for the future!
The Waukegan Park District is looking for public input from the community to explore the potential future renovations at Roosevelt Park, located at 520 S. McAlister Avenue. With park improvements anticipated in the next few years, public input will assist in guiding the planning process.
The Waukegan Park District is undertaking a sediment removal project at the Bevier Pond, located at 2255 W. York House Road in Bevier Park. Sediment accumulation in the pond has led to a decrease in water depth, poor water quality, and disrupted habitats. To address this, the sediment will be vacuumed by scuba divers and pumped underneath McAree Road into Henry Pfau Callahan Park, located 2785 W. York House Road, where it will be stored and dried to be used as topsoil for a future pollinator prairie.
The project is planned for completion in fall 2024. In the interest of minimizing disruptions to park users, Bevier Park and Henry Pfau Callahan Park will remain open during the project. Future projects will include bank stabilization for the pond and northern stream to limit future erosion and sediment accumulation.
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The Waukegan Park District was awarded a $400,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the State of Illinois to assist in the renovation of Bevier Park, located at 2255 York House Road. Bevier Park is being transformed with a new nature-themed playground, a discovery dock, and an accessible kayak and canoe launch. In addition, the baseball field will be enhanced with new backstops, bleachers, and dugouts, the basketball courts will be resurfaced, and the disc golf course will be improved.
Powell Park was improved with a new playground! Located at 533 Grand Avenue, Powell Park now features playground structures for different age ranges and the Waukegan Park District’s very first Drop Zone Tower™. Children will be able to step onto the platform to safely “drop” down to the ground, where kids will jump off and watch it rise to its original “zone.”
With an expected completion in early 2024, the Waukegan Park District and the Waukegan Historical Society have been working together on the restoration and adaptive reuse of the former Carnegie Library to become the future Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie with expanded history programming, archives, collections, exhibits, classrooms, and a research library.
Designated as a Waukegan Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Carnegie Library opened in 1903 with a donation from Andrew Carnegie, a steel magnate and philanthropist who commissioned the construction of 2,509 libraries.