Gurnee Park District celebrates new playground at Ravinia

The Gurnee Park District hosted a ribbon cutting and picnic at Ravinia Park on October 13 to celebrate the newly renovated playground.
 
"It is a beautiful evening to reopen a beautiful park," Jim Goshorn, president of the Board of Commissioners for the district, said in a news release.

The new playground has a number of brand new items including slides, jungle gym, artificial turf and ADA surfacing, according to the news release.
 
"This project began about five years ago when we started working with the state of Illinois. Our goal was to receive a matching grant to replace the old equipment. Playgrounds only last about 15-20 years, and this one has always been heavily used," Goshorn said. "Unfortunately, we were denied the grant twice. However, we found ways to modify the project that was still extremely beneficial to the community by reprioritizing our playground plans and using our own staff to complete the project. We were able to cut the cost of the revamp nearly in half without compromising the neighborhood's needs, safety and excitement."
 
More than 250 community members were in attendance at the ceremony and were able to play with the newly added playground musical instruments, swings and mini rock climbing wall.
 
"We have one more phase of this project to complete. We are going to build a board walk that will allow residents to use the entire walking path all year long even through the marshy areas of the park," Goshorn added.
 
To learn more about Gurnee Park District, community parks and special events, visit www.GurneeParkDistrict.com.