The Village Apparently Has No List Of 'Potential Sites' For Parkland

In 2011, residents urged the Village of Elmwood Park to continue to “acquire land and convert it to public parks.”

Centennial Park (Photo: Kevin Gosztola)

By Kevin Gosztola, Editor

More than a decade ago, the Village of Elmwood Park adopted a “Comprehensive Plan” that recommended that the village identify potential sites for additional parkland. However, it does not appear that village management ever followed through and put together a list.

The comprehensive plan, dated March 12, 2013, outlined a “vision for the community” that would "guide “development and investment decisions.” It contained a “national resources space strategy” and suggested that the village “create an inventory of parcels that are either Village-owned, privately-owned and vacant, or tax delinquent as a list of potential ‘first-tier’ sites” that could be “converted” into park spaces.

The Elmwood Park Advocate submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on April 6 that asked for a copy of the village’s list of “potential sites for additional park space.” Village Clerk Gina Pesko claimed the village contains “no documents in response” to the newsletter’s request.

Village manager Paul Volpe was asked by the newsletter if the village had ever attempted to create an inventory of potential sites, and if no, why the village did not follow through with this recommendation. At the time of publication, Volpe had not responded.

The comprehensive plan remains a guiding document for the village. Assistant Village Manager Kim Napolitano mentioned the plan in the application for a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to help pay for a new Kiddie Korral Park.

In 2011, residents urged the village during the “comprehensive planning process” to continue to “acquire land and convert it to public parks.”

“Elmwood Park leaders, residents, and other stakeholders expressed the importance of maintaining and enhancing Elmwood Park’s open space and natural resources,” the comprehensive plan noted.

It further acknowledged that the “amount and availability of park space is significantly lower than standards established for even the densest urban areas of the Chicago metropolitan region.”

“Open space is the second largest land use, occupying 91 acres or 10.4 percent of the Village,” according to the comprehensive plan. “Most of this acreage, however, belongs to the Oak Park Country Club and is not accessible to the public. The Club’s property covers roughly 82 acres in the west-central area of Elmwood Park and also extends into River Grove and River Forest.”

Smaller parks, as of March 2013, made up “roughly 4.4 acres of open space,” with the rest of the open space in Elmwood Park lying within the Forest Preserves of Cook County in the southwest part of the village.

The comprehensive plan also recommended that the village “contact private landowners of parcels” on the list to “discuss the landowner’s intent for the future use of the land and the possibility for conversion to park land.”

In 2008, a “Community Parks and Recreation Master Plan” that the village adopted said that “park space should expand to the greatest extent possible.”

Elmgrove Park was completed and unveiled on July 2, 2024. It was constructed on the former site of the New Horizon Temple.

Throughout the past 13 years, the village has purchased parcels of land near North Avenue but not to create parkland or open space that could possibly be used by “Restaurant Row” patrons. The village constructed parking lots on this land.

During outreach for the comprehensive plan, the village recognized that residents view parks as an important issue, and residents complained about “the need for better communication.”

Based upon records that the Elmwood Park Advocate obtained, it is hard to tell if Volpe or any other official involved in village management seriously engaged in community outreach prior to undertaking the Kiddie Korral redesign project.

---

JOIN US FOR A ‘COMMUNITY CONVERSATION’ ON PARKS AND RECREATIONAL SPACES:

On Saturday, April 25, at 3 p.m., the Elmwood Park Advocate will hold a “Community Conversation” at the Elmwood Park Public Library on parks and recreational spaces. We’ll meet in the Ferrentino Room.

Elmwood Park has several parks: Bambi Park, Centennial Park, Central Park, Elmgrove Park, Kathy Torpe Park, Kiddie Korral, Skate Park, and Triangle Park.

We’ll invite residents to discuss the time that they spend in our local parks, what they appreciate about the parks, and what they would like to see improved or updated. The conversation will also consider how Elmwood Park utilizes open spaces and how further spaces could potentially be developed. (You can RSVP here.)