Powell Park was improved with a new playground! Located at 533 Grand Avenue, Powell Park now features playground structures for different age ranges and the Waukegan Park District’s very first Drop Zone Tower™. Children will be able to step onto the platform to safely “drop” down to the ground, where kids will jump off and watch it rise to its original “zone.”
The Waukegan Park District was awarded a $400,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the State of Illinois to assist in the renovation of Bevier Park, located at 2255 York House Road. Bevier Park will be transformed with a new nature-themed playground, a discovery dock, and an accessible kayak and canoe launch. In addition, the baseball field will be enhanced with new backstops, bleachers, and dugouts, the basketball courts will be resurfaced, and the disc golf course will be improved. Construction will begin in the spring of 2023.
Special Recreation Services of Northern Lake County – Waukegan has a new home at 540 S. McAlister Street and adjacent to Roosevelt Park. The Waukegan Park District recognized the need for more special recreation services in the community and the addition of an accessible, larger building was the first step to make that happen. The building was purchased in 2022 and underwent over a year of renovations. With the new building, special recreation services will be expanded in seven designated rooms for individuals with disabilities to learn a variety of skills, including a multi-sensory interactive room, youth room, multi-age room, art room, multi-media room, teaching kitchen, and a multi-purpose room for programming. From summer camp programs to fitness programs, the new building will provide expanded space for special recreation events, programs, and services.
With an expected completion in early 2024, the Waukegan Park District and the Waukegan Historical Society have been working together on the restoration and adaptive reuse of the former Carnegie Library to become the future Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie with expanded history programming, archives, collections, exhibits, classrooms, and a research library.
Designated as a Waukegan Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Carnegie Library opened in 1903 with a donation from Andrew Carnegie, a steel magnate and philanthropist who commissioned the construction of 2,509 libraries.
The Waukegan Park District recently named a new park: Pollinator Park! The park is home to the Waukegan Park Foundation’s colorful beehives that will be used for the honey bee initiative. This project will provide a hands-on educational experience that will eventually be incorporated into environmental programming for the community. We will be sharing more information about this project in the upcoming months.