The park district’s last large parcel of undeveloped land could soon become much more.
Southwest Community Park sits just south of Wolf Crossing Road as an empty 33 acres, and now the Naperville Park District is ready to make something of the blank canvas.
“It’s a collaboration between Naperville Park District staff and Charles Vincent George group out in Naperville. And we’re working together to gather the input and then come up with conceptual designs where we go back out to the community and get further feedback to further refine and develop a master plan,” explained Eric Shutes, the director of planning for the park district.
A recent public meeting started that development process to hear what residents would like for the area, whether it was outdoor trails and tennis courts or athletic fields and an activity center.
After a quick presentation of concepts for the park, the public was able to place their votes on which ideas they wanted the most, or even suggest something new.
“Well I’m a mom of young children, so most of my ideas are centered around them,” said resident near Southwest Community Park Ellie Martin. “I think Naperville has almost everything, but there are just a couple things that we’re missing that I see. The first would be a true splash pad that’s kid-friendly. Definitely an indoor pool I think would be great because that’s another thing that Naperville just doesn’t have. And then finally, my husband and my son are into rock climbing, so that’s another thing that Naperville doesn’t have is a real climbing wall.”
The next Southwest Community Park public meeting will be held in April, and park district officials hope to get a master plan for the park approved by this summer.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
