Woodglen Park Will Open to Public In October

Green Trails residents may enjoy the fruits of a new park sooner than expected. Construction on Woodglen Park, which is scheduled to open for public use at the end of October, is a few days ahead of schedule despite early setbacks.

Construction on the 11-acre area, located south of Trinity Drive and west of Golfview Drive, began in July. Superintendent of parks Aaron Cerutti said union strikes delayed construction for the first three weeks, but currently all tasks have been completed on time. Work on landscaping and paved areas is ahead of schedule.

Construction is also operating under budget. Benchmark Construction of Bartlett, IL, secured the work with a bid of $905,897—almost $200,000 under budget. The Park District did find the area deficient in topsoil, and imported an additional $90,000 worth to complete the project. Cerutti said the project would still finish well under budget.

The area will include two soccer fields, a playground for children ages 2-12, a picnic pavilion with public restrooms, a practice baseball field and wetlands along the south and east perimeters. A parking lot on the northeast side can accommodate roughly 80 vehicles.

The area was previously an open field, intended at one time as the site of a second middle school for Lisle Community School District 202. According to Cerutti, the park's features fit naturally into the district's master plan and address the community's current needs.

"Soccer's our deficiency as far as nice, programmable fields," he said, adding, "[This space] seemed like a natural spot."

Greg Sagen of Naperville's Signature Design Group—and a former Lisle Park District superintendent—acted as landscape architect. Sagen is responsible for the design of several other parks in town.

Birch and evergreen trees are being planted throughout the property. The district added wetland basins to address floodplain areas in the park. Cerutti said the basins will include a variety of native plants similar to those at Community Park, in addition to eight trees that were displaced in the construction process.

"We're recycling them on-site as perching trees for bird habitats," he explained. These trees will be cemented into the ground to prevent them being washed away during heavy rain.

The only setback? The soccer fields cannot be used for league play until spring 2012. Cerutti said sprinting cleats would kill the grass if used too soon.