P R O J E C T

U P D A T E S

Project Phases:

Our project work moves through a process that's broken into four phases: Defining, Planning, Execution and Completion. For detailed definitions of each project phase, go here

PLANNING PHASE

Gillson Park Landscape Plan Approved

On February 12, the Wilmette Board of Park Commissioners approved a comprehensive 10-year landscape plan for Gillson Park. The 30-page plan was developed by Upland Design in collaboration with the Wilmette community, who provided input throughout the process since the project's inception last June.

The final plan included answers to questions posed by the Board during Upland Design's final plan presentation at the January 22 Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting. Read the questions, answers, and final plan alteration notes here. View the approved landscape plan here

PLANNING PHASE

Gillson Park Infrastructure Work to Begin This Fall

Roadway and drainage improvement plans for Gillson Park are still under review by requisite agencies, including the Village of Wilmette and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD). Last week, the MWRD provided initial comments and our engineers responded. Park District staff anticipates this review process will continue for several more weeks. Following approvals, the work must be bid and a contractor selected. As a result, work will now commence after Labor Day.

PLANNING PHASE

Langdon Shoreline Protection Project Progresses

At the February 26 COW meeting, a Langdon project consultant from SmithGroup presented schedule, budget, permitting, and construction bid process updates. He also introduced a design for a small (6.5' × 7.5' ) staff shelter/beach access control structure, a planting plan, and three park entrance improvement options.

Recently, Park District staff engaged an external arborist to create a tree plan for Langdon, similar to what was done for Gillson Park. At the COW meeting, SmithGroup shared a map of arborist-recommended tree removals and relocations. One of the proposed entrance improvement options included a pathway made of permeable turf blocks, replacing the current gravel path and potentially impacting the health of an adjacent tree. Out of concern for the health of this mature oak tree, the Board chose to keep the gravel path. Work is planned to begin after Labor Day, and will continue through spring 2025. See SmithGroup's presentation here

A D D I T I O N A L

U P D A T E S

PROJECT PARKS AND PLAY - At the February 26 COW meeting, consultants from BerryDunn provided an update on the Comprehensive and Strategic Planning process and outlined the steps immediately ahead, including the next round of community

engagement. See BerryDunn's presentation here

SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION - On Tuesday, February 6, the Park District suffered multiple system shutdowns and restarts before suspending resident summer camp registration altogether. The system issues were specific to a server that was overwhelmed by the volume of traffic experienced.

This incident accelerated a planned project for 2024 of moving the registration software to the cloud. Our software provider suggested the District add a waiting room, or "Virtual Lobby" function to the online registration process to ensure even the cloud-based system is not overwhelmed with too many

simultaneous connections. District staff explored many options when considering new camp registration dates and times. Realizing that no single day and time was going to work perfectly for the entire community, they set resident camp registration for Saturday, February 24 at 9 a.m., and non-resident registration the following Saturday. With the new cloud-based system and Virtual Lobby in place, both February 24 and March 2 registration days went smoothly.

The Park District is committed to improving the program registration process in every way possible for our residents. Look for a survey in the near future: we want to hear your thoughts and ideas.

A C C E S S

To view Agendas and Minutes from past Board meetings, click here. Minutes are posted after they are approved the following month.

Next Regular Monthly board meeting: Monday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Village Hall at 1200 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette.

Next Committee of the Whole meeting: NOTE NEW DATE AND TIME FOR MARCH: Monday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at the Mallinckrodt Center, 1041A Ridge Road (side entrance), Wilmette

All meetings are open to the public. Details are posted on the Upcoming Meetings page on our website.

Regular Monthly Board meetings are available to view live on Channel 6 locally for Comcast subscribers. View a live meeting online here, or view previous meeting recordings here (scroll down to "Wilmette Park District"). Please check our website often for updates.