Grant-supported upgrades on way to Wilmette’s Hibbard Park

A series of updates that will likely total more than $1 million are soon on the way to Wilmette’s Hibbard Park.

Wilmette Park Board commissioners during their Monday, May 12 meeting approved a contract for construction at the local park on Glenview Road.

The park district is planning an extensive redevelopment of the park that includes renovations to the baseball field and the addition of six pickleball courts, new playground equipment, a new picnic shelter, an ADA-compliant water fountain, a 6-foot-wide concrete path and wayfinding signage.

Park officials opened the bidding process for construction work at Hibbard Park on May 1 and subsequently received eight bids each with two alternate options included. The bids, according to interim Executive Director Margaret Resnick, ranged from $988,338 to $1.18 million.

The district had previously budgeted $1.4 million for the project, per Resnick. From that, $600,000 comes from an Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. According to the district’s website, the park district also received a $10,000 donation from the Wilmette Baseball Association toward the project.

The approved contract is with Innovation, a company based out of Oswego, Illinois. Innovation was the lowest of the bids the park district received, district documents show.

According to a memo from Josh Wallace, superintendent of parks and planning for the park district, project work is expected to begin soon. Park officials hope work will be completed before the winter season, Wallace said in the memo.

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