The Naperville Park District released plans for the renovations scheduled for Knoch Park.
A multipurpose field, bleachers, and pickleball courts will be built on the site, which will be utilized by both the park district and School District 203.
“Working with the administration at District 203, we’ve actually developed what a preliminary schedule would look like as far as when the school district would receive priority use during the peak times. And that’s really what we’re looking at are those peak times during the evenings and weekends over the course of the year, and when it would be utilized by the park district and community organizations,” said park district Director of Recreation Brad Wilson.
These renovations are the main reason that Ribfest cannot be held in Knoch Park starting in 2020. The festival will move to Romeoville starting that year.
“I know this created some angst with a lot of people in the community with Ribfest leaving,” said Executive Director Ray McGury. “We certainly wish them well in Romeoville, I think they’re going to do very well there. But at the end of the day, this is why we need this park back. We weren’t able to do this for years and the time came where we had to step up and make some difficult decisions and that’s what we did.”
McGury said these renovations will benefit the entire community.
“This addresses a lot of needs for District 203’s system,” said McGury. “It addresses a huge need for our system and it’s a huge win for the community.”
The park district estimates the renovations will cost about $4.2 million and hope to complete it by the Fall of 2020.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.