With preservation in mind, Wilmette Park District has its sights set on attaining properties on Evanston border

The Wilmette Park District is in the early stages of attempting to acquire a pair of plots.

Park district officials hosted an informal community meeting Monday, Aug. 10 to garner feedback on two plots of the land the district is hoping to obtain.

The district is on “step 0.5” in potentially gaining what could be the new park land, noted Anna Murray, Parks Planner for the Wilmette Park District.

Monday’s meeting — which took place at Wilmette Village Hall prior to the regularly scheduled park board session —was the first of two sessions to gather community input. More than a dozen locals showed up to share their opinions with park district leaders in an open-house-style setting.

The two plots the park district is eyeing are located on the Wilmette-Evanston border at 2777 and 2787 Ridge Road.

But, before the park district can make any potential proposals for the land, they first need to secure the funding to buy the properties.

Park officials said the district plans to apply for Illinois’ Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) Grant, an award that offers local government agencies financial assistance in acquiring and developing land for public parks and open space. The maximum OSLAD grant a town can receive for any one project is $1,125,000 for land acquisition and $600,000 for approved construction projects.

If their application is accepted and they are awarded the grant, Murray said the park district hopes to create a prairie preserve with an educational facility for local students.

“Our residents are really excited about this potential acquisition,” Murray said. “This land has one of the last natural-grown prairies in the state of Illinois. That’s a really big deal, considering that you know we only have a tenth of what it used to be of natural grown prairie.”

One of the lots also includes the oldest house in Wilmette — a piece of history that the park district would like to preserve.

Resident Bonnie Barber is excited about the potential park addition. She said she goes on walks every day and likes the idea of a nature preserve. 

“I walk past it, and I just feel like it should be preserved in some way,” Barber said. “ … The fact that there is a prairie there, I just think it’s a wonderful way to not only educate people’s children about the prairie and maintain it, but also the old building, which is part of its history.” 

Murray said that gaining community thoughts on the projects can help earn the park district the grant.

“All of the community engagement feedback that we’re getting today … is very beneficial to potentially earning this grant,” Murray said. 

The next informal community feedback meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12 at Wallace Bowl. If residents want to express more feedback, they are encouraged to email connect@wilpark.com.

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