Beloved decades-old rocket slide in St. Charles park to be preserved

While the beloved rocket slide at Kehoe Park in St. Charles is nearing the end of its journey, it will be preserved, according to St. Charles Park District officials.

Kehoe Park, located at Prairie and Howard streets in St. Charles, was established in 1962 and the 26-foot-tall rocket slide was installed at its inception. The land used for Kehoe Park was donated to the city by the Kehoe family in memory of their parents, Phillip and Annie Kehoe.

In 1975, the park was acquired by the St. Charles Park District. Because of its age, the rocket slide will need to be replaced.

“We want to replace the rocket with a new, safe playground amenity that meets current playground standards,” St. Charles Park District Superintendent of Parks and Planning and Deputy Director Laura Rudow said. “Playground standards and safety has changed in 60 years. All of our other parks and playgrounds, they are renovated between 18 and 22 years. That’s about the lifespan of a playground.”

At the same time, the Park District plans to preserve the rocket slide as a structure within Kehoe Park. Plans will be developed and shared with the community for review and comment prior to the St. Charles Park Board approving the plans.

The new playground equipment is expected to be installed in the summer of 2022. Rudow said she knows the strong connection residents have with the rocket slide.

“The Park District was well aware of the strong community sentiment towards that amenity,” she said. “And so that’s why we wanted to start this community wide conversation a year in advance. There are no plans to do anything with the rocket until next summer. Knowing the strong sentiment toward it, we started our conversation now because we wanted the community feedback. We wanted to hear ideas. We wanted to hear stories and anecdotes and hear the history that people remember from the community.”

She said the Park District has heard from many people in the last few days who want to see the rocket slide preserved.

“Clearly, the message coming from the community over the last five or six days is this needs to remain in some fashion,” Rudow said. “We’re developing a concept plan. We don’t have one now. I would propose that in the months to come, we show what the park looks like possibly moving to another location within Kehoe Park. Maybe it works that it stays where it is. We don’t have that concept plan developed yet. We wanted to hear from the residents first.”

Dyan Jorgensen was happy to hear the rocket slide will be preserved. She started a petition calling for the rocket slide to be saved.

“It has been part of ours and our children’s best memories and is a historic landmark that should not be destroyed,” the petition states. “We are requesting that the rocket be saved, repaired and placed as a sculpture or display for the next generations to enjoy as we did.”

Jorgensen said she played at Kehoe Park on a regular basis as a child.

“I used to go to that park every single day when I was a kid,” she said.

From now until the spring, the Park District plans to collect memories, photos and comments from St. Charles residents and visitors who have enjoyed the rocket slide for the last 60 years and seek input on what type of new play structure they would like to see installed as its replacement.

From January to March, residents will have the chance to review plans for the new playground equipment. The Park Board would then review the plans and solicit bids for the project.

Next summer, the Park District plans to install the new playground equipment and commemorate the rocket structure location within Kehoe Park with interpretive signs. The new playground equipment might have a rocket theme.

“That was our thought,” Rudow said. “We’ll probably show some concepts all across the board. Let’s get community feedback and see what people think.”