Does Bourbonnais Township Park District’s future include a multi-purpose pavilion?

A few years ago a new group of Bourbonnais Township Park District commissioners were quick to take a 2021 Comprehensive Master Plan off the shelf.

Funded by a previous board, the new group felt it was time to listen to the district’s residents, who were used to help shape that plan.

“The Action Plan in Chapter Two should be thought of as a ‘living document’ that will need to be periodically re-evaluated and adjusted to reflect the completed project and the community’s changing needs,” the comprehensive master plan said.

There have been updates to the Exploration Station, with more in the future, and a challenger course geared toward preteens and teens.

The future for Perry Farm Park could include a year-round, multi-purpose facility to host events.

At Monday’s BTPD board Committee-of-the-Whole meeting, executive director Mike O’Shea discussed the Perry Farm concept.

A pavilion which could host concerts, farmers’ markets, winter events and maybe an ice rink during the winter appears to be gaining traction.

It would be open-air allowing for the stage to host multiple types of events.

O’Shea said such pavilions are located in Crown Point, Indiana, and Valparaiso, Indiana.

These pavilions are much bigger than a picnic pavilion.

Board president David Zinanni such a facility could be a game changer for the area.

“You can hold events rain or shine,” Zinanni said.

O’Shea said it is important to know that such a facility is just an idea at this point, something that would come after 2027.

“There’s no price tag. There’s no nothing. It’s just a concept. It’s to see where the idea can take us. There’s no contract,” O’Shea said.

“This would be to put it on a shelf and then once we’re ready, pull it off the shelf.”