Area Park Grants and Updates

Local parks in Champaign County will be receiving State grant money soon, according to a recent announcement from the governor. Below there are also a couple news updates about local trees. From a blurb on Smile Politely earlier last month:

Governor Pritzker just announced $28.9 million in grant money that will fund 89 projects throughout the state through Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and a few Champaign County spaces will benefit:
Champaign County Forest Preserve District: $152,400 for expanding accessibility at Lake of the Woods
Champaign Park District:  $400,000 for Human Kinetics Park Development
Village of Rantoul: $360,000 for Rudzinksi Park Redevelopment
Urbana Park District: $400,000 for Crystal Lake Rehabilitation Project
You can find out more about the statewide grants here.

Since that blurb, there's been additional coverage in the News-Gazette and the Rantoul Press on the individual projects that will benefit from the grants. Starting with the coverage on Champaign County Forest Preserve and its use of the Lake of the Woods grant here at their eEdition. Excerpt:

Lake of the Woods will expand its lake accessibility within the next two years following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s awarding of $152,400 from the state’s Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant, which assists parks in acquiring open space or developing and improving local recreational facilities throughout the state.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Mary Ellen Wuellner, executive director of the Champaign County Forest Preserve District.

Grant coordinator Jarrod Scheunemann said the money will be used to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities in the area near the intersection of Tin Cup and Lake of the Woods roads, commonly referred to as the peninsula.

Full article here (requires digital subscription). The grant for the Champaign Park District was covered here:

Money from the grant will pay for outdoor sports fields and courts, a path system, a shelter and a playground...

The grant money will be added to a $4.4 million donation from Rainer and Julie Martens to construct a community center, called the Martens Center, on the site.

This state-of-the-art multipurpose facility will be owned and operated by the park district...

Among the offerings will be exercise and nutrition classes, English as a second language programs, business courses and swimming lessons.

The development is part of a partnership with the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club.

Full article here. The Rantoul Press had coverage for the Rudzinski Park grant:

A new playground and swing set, shade structures and circuit-training area are among the items to be added to Rantoul’s Christopher Rudzinski Park.

Work could begin this spring on a redevelopment of the park, thanks to a $360,000 state grant...

The state will provide 90 percent of Rantoul’s $400,000 project cost. The village will kick in the remaining $40,000.

Mayor Chuck Smith formally announced the award at last week’s Rantoul Village Board study session.

Recreation Department Superintendent Luke Humphrey said in November, the goal is to upgrade the park area west of Baerman Drive. The upgrade would include new playground equipment, swing set, rubber safety surfacing, parking lot, shade structure, furnishings and an outdoor circuit training area...

He said because Rantoul is considered a “distressed community” economically, it qualified for 90 percent funding of the project.

Full article here. And finally on the Urbana Crystal Lake Park grant:

Plans to revitalize the area around Crystal Lake Park have been at the top of the Urbana Park District's wish list for years...

Hopes are that the $400,000 will fund work on a large section of the lake edge, in an effort to rehabilitate it "into more naturalized systems," [Executive Director Tim Bartlett] said.

The strategy for improving the water quality at Crystal Lake calls for removing as many invasive tree species and shrubs as the park district can without damaging existing ecosystems.

The money will also go toward construction of a new nature-themed playground, a family game area and a boat dock with an accessible kayak launch.

But it's the water quality piece that's most important for attracting more visitors. Last fall, when park district officials presented the Crystal Lake improvement plans to the Urbana City Council, then-council member Aaron Ammons said it should be a top priority to decrease the level of pollution in the lake from runoff nitrates and invasive species.

Bartlett said the water quality will improve once the edge of the lake is planted with native species that can filter and cleanse the water of chemicals and runoff.

Full article here.


And finally a couple local tree updates: 

• The Daily Illini on how MCORE construction includes planning to replace lost trees. Tom's Mailbag answers a question on the same subject.
• The emerald ash borer beetle continues to menace area ash trees. News-Gazette had coverage yesterday and today about the ramifications, as laid out by a local arborist, and to let people know why Champaign County Forest Preserve staff are cutting down affected trees:

  If you’ve visited Champaign County Forest Preserve District parks this week, you may have seen freshly cut tree stumps or trees actually being felled. Unfortunately, there’s a very good reason. District crews were cutting ash trees, a species that’s been decimated by the emerald ash borer, an exotic beetle native to Asia that’s killed millions of ash trees in Illinois and more throughout the Midwest. Preserve district staff were taking down trees at Lake of the Woods in Mahomet this week and at Homer Lake Forest Preserve on Thursday, along trails and the road, said Michael Daab, director of natural resources. A lot of ash trees have also been felled at Kickapoo State Recreation Area near Oakwood.