Fox River Grove gets new playground

A new park, paid for by Fox River Grove and the local school district, was recently built next to Algonquin Road Elementary School. Parts from the old park that was torn down will be refurbished and given to a developing country to use.

Construction on the park started in June 2019 and finished right before school started this year. It cost about a quarter of a million dollars, with the school district and village splitting the cost about 50-50, Village President Robert Nunamaker said.

In addition, the Parks Commission did a fundraiser that helped raise money for the park.

The new park includes a fitness area for the children.

The village and district had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the park on Monday.

“It’s a nice thing for the community,” said John Reese, operations manager for public works in Fox River Grove.

The playground is on village property, but is used mostly by the school, which is why they went in as partners to pay for it, Reese said.

Planning for the new park started about two years ago. The old equipment was more than 20 years old.

“We had a playground for the children, but they wanted something to develop the physical skills of kids in schools and the village, so that’s a whole new idea,” Nunamaker said about the fitness center. “It turned out beautifully.”

One of the things the village requested of contractors that bid on the park project was that they have a relationship with someone who would move the equipment to a developing country who needs it, Nunamaker said.

Reese said an organization, Kids Around the World, will take the parts from the old park, refurbish them, and put them in another country. He said once a park is installed in another country, the organization will let the village and school district know which country the old park equipment went to.