The city’s Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday voted 5-2 to add dog parks at Clark Square and Grey Park to its list of recommended capital improvement projects for 2024.
Clark Square, which had initially been left off the list, was ultimately added as a Top-10 recommendation and will need $200,000 of funding for renovation, according to Board President Robert Bush. Construction at Grey Park, however, will cost nearly $500,000.
In all, renovations at 21 parks would cost a total of roughly $13 million if the City Council approves the board’s full list. Of those 21 parks, six are termed “legacy” parks, which the city defines as “parks with playgrounds with no substantial improvements made for at least 26 years.”
Pooch Park, along the North Shore Channel, and the Evanston Dog Beach, south of Clark Street Beach, are the city’s only current off-leash spaces for dogs.
Board member Ellie Shevick, who voted in favor of adding two dog parks, said a dog park is much needed in Clark Square, as there are a lot of young families in the community.
But there were concerns about the current conditions of all city parks and the overall cost of renovations.
“We’re not maintaining our parks, we don’t have staff to maintain our parks, we don’t have adequate funding,” Board member Jeff Totsch said. “And so, I think within this list, those [questions] need to be asked. We need to be better funded, and we need to be better staffed, or else all this is pointless.”
Parks and Recreation Director Audrey Thompson, however, pushed back against the funding concerns expressed by board members Bush and Totsch.
“So are we going to make recommendations, or are we going to take these nine pages and pick apart every single dollar?” Thompson said. “We are the Parks and Recreations Board. At some point, we, as a Parks and Recreations Board, have to make some recommendations to the City Council. It is the City Council’s responsibility to then direct staff as to what needs to happen next.”
At the end of the meeting, Totsch voted in favor of the two dog parks being included as a recommendation despite his concerns.
Some of the other capital improvement recommendations include Bent Park Fieldhouse, the Evanston Ecology Center, the Chandler-Newberger Community Center gym, Beck Park, the kitchen at Levy Senior Center and pickleball courts at James Park.
