After a four-year wait, work will start this fall on a project to build athletic fields and a nature center in Bloomingdale`s biggest park, Springfield Park.
The $1.7 million development plan has been marred by public acrimony and a lawsuit since it was first proposed in 1988. Springfield Park is south of Lake Street and east of Springfield Drive.
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Proposals to build a lighted batting cage, a jogging path and soccer fields sparked opposition from residents of the Chateau Lorraine and Country Club Estates neighborhoods, which border the park.
The Park District agreed to drop the batting cage, eliminate path lights near houses and tone down the lights on the soccer fields.
After the concessions, the Village Board voted 4-2 last week to approve the plans.
Trustee Steve Jarolin praised the project, saying ”The park needs to be improved, there`s no question. It can`t stay the way it is. It`s an eyesore for Bloomingdale.”
But trustees acknowledged the bitterness the park proposal had produced and warned that the Park District and the park`s neighbors must communicate better. Residents not only dislike the prospect of lights shining in their houses but fear the new features attract criminal activity.
Besides soccer fields and a jogging path, plans call for tennis and basketball courts, and an ice rink by fall 1993. A sand volleyball court, nature center and a bridge over the park`s marsh are also planned.
The trustees` decision settles the fate of the park, which originally was to be the site of a lighted driving range.