The playground at the center of downtown Glencoe's shopping district is getting a redesign, and residents have until Sunday, July 26, to help choose what it becomes.
The Glencoe Park District posted an online survey asking residents to vote on design concepts for Friends Park, the inclusive playground at 719-745 Vernon Avenue, steps from the Park Avenue and Vernon Avenue dining and retail corridor. Each concept offers a different mix of play equipment, seating, shade structures, game areas, a pollinator garden, and picnic shelters.
The Park District Board of Commissioners will review survey results at its August meeting. The district's survey page lists a target construction start of fall 2027.
Why it matters for the corridor
Friends Park isn't just a playground. The Village of Glencoe's Downtown Parking and Streetscape Study, presented at a public meeting on Monday, June 2, 2025, identifies the park as a landmark in the downtown core and proposes widening sidewalks on Vernon Avenue to create more space for outdoor dining and seating. That study found downtown parking at 85% peak capacity on a midday Wednesday, underscoring how tightly the park, the shops, and foot traffic are linked.
The Park District has not disclosed a total project budget. Its survey notes that some features "may be included as part of the final project, depending on future funding opportunities and Board direction."
A long time coming
The park's current equipment is more than 10 years old. Park District data estimated it would need full replacement by 2033. Then-Board Treasurer Michael Covey made the case for prioritizing the project at a July 2, 2024, committee meeting, when the board debated whether to include Friends Park in its $14.7 million bond referendum.
"Friends is the park for everybody," Covey said at that meeting. "It's for the 2-year-olds, up to those 14-year-olds in middle school who go there after school. It's a highlight park. When you think of the park district, you think of Friends Park."
The board ultimately kept Friends Park outside the bond, which voters approved in November 2024. Executive Director Lisa Sheppard said in July 2024 that the bond would protect and improve the district's most important assets. The board identified the park's renovation as a separate, future priority.
What's still unknown
The Park District has not publicly disclosed the renovation's funding source or total cost. Residents can request that information through the district's FOIA officer at glencoeparkdistrict.com/public-records-foia. The exact date of the August board meeting where results will be discussed has not been posted; check glencoeparkdistrict.com or call (847) 835-3030.
A community input meeting was held Wednesday, July 15, at Friends Park from 3 to 5 p.m. The online survey remains open at glencoeparkdistrict.com through Sunday, July 26.
