Prairie Park in DeKalb is one step closer to being revamped.

The DeKalb Park District has netted $400,000 in Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development grant funding from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to help make it happen.

“I am very happy to announce that the district was awarded the OSLAD grant for Prairie Park,” said Mat Emken, the district’s superintendent of parks and development.

Emken first made the announcement during the DeKalb park board’s first regular meeting of the new year.

The grant funding is intended to help the district expand the recreational opportunities at Prairie Park.

Current amenities at Prairie Park include a nine-hole disc golf course, some picnic tables and a walking trail.

Once it’s completed, the park will feature nine additional holes on the disc golf course and a new 0.3-mile paved loop to the west side of the park, according to a news release. Other improvements will include a fishing outcrop, a river overlook, a new picnic shelter, a gaming area near the intersection of Clifford Drive and Glidden Avenue, and woodland understory restoration to about 7 acres of timber.

“The award for Prairie Park is another successful collaboration between the residents of DeKalb, the DeKalb Park District and Upland Design, which has brought in over $1.9 million in grant funding for park improvements in the last five years,” Emken said in the release.

The district intends to contribute an additional $400,000 toward project costs to fulfill a cost-sharing arrangement with the state.

“We are very excited to enhance Prairie Park with this plan, which will provide more disc golf holes and also open up a large section of the property that many people may not know about,” park board President David Castro said in the release.