New Community Park to Be Completed in 2013

After six years of development, residents and students in Lake View will soon have a new space to unwind, learn and garden.

The Burley Community Park at Burley School – 1630 W. Barry Ave. – is a new multi-purpose green space designed to serve both residents and students at the elementary school. According to Burley School’s new principal Catherine Plocher, construction crews are entering the third and final phase of the park, and a completion date is in view.

“It would be really nice, ideally, (to be completed) by the end of next summer,” Plocher told the Roscoe View Journal. ”Now if we raise enough money and get the grants that we’re hoping to get and things like that, it might be possible.”

The total cost of the park is estimated at $500,000, with things like an artificial turf field eating up a large chunk of the budget. With fundraising help from the non-profit Friends of Burley organization, the park is being paid for through a combination of public funds, grants, corporate gifts and private donations.

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And according to the Journal, the school is now waiting for two potential grants that would fund an outdoor classroom and community vegetable garden.

“We’ve been decently successful (at obtaining grant money),” Plocher told the Journal. “The one for the vegetable garden we’re very optimistic about.”

While major items like the artificial turf, basketball court and tetherball courts have already been installed, just a few items remain before the school puts the stamp of approval on the rehabilitated park.

When completed, the park will feature:

• Artificial Turf Athletic Play Field
• Soft-surface Latex Running Track
• New Basketball Court with Adjustable Rims, Tetherball and more
• New Early Childhood Playground Equipment
• Landscaping, Seating, Greening and more

And this isn’t the only space in Lake View getting a complete makeover to become a new community space.

The School Street Playlot at 1230 W. School Street is slated to break ground in 2013. Sitting on four lots of land in the heart of Lake View, the almost 20,000-square-foot park has been one of Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44th) goals for 10 years, and its on track to soon becoming a reality.

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