Playground in Woodstock’s Emricson Park torn down, but new one, plus pickleball and splash pad, on the way

Woodstock’s Emricson Park is getting rid of the old and bringing in the new this year with revamped tennis courts, a new playground and a new splash pad.

A beloved, castle-themed playground was removed from the park last week after being determined unsafe by Woodstock public works officials, Woodstock Executive Director of Operations Christina Betz said.

“Public Works has been out there monitoring it for a while and just had to make a decision that it was time,” she said. “It was getting to a place where it was just unsafe.”

But the new Nature’s Way Playground at the park is expected to be completed by the end of September, with construction starting in May or June, Betz said. The new playground will be on top of the sledding hill near the Dream Field baseball field.

The city has been planning to install the inclusive and intergenerational playground since 2022. After securing a $600,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant and raising more than $74,000 with The Community Foundation of McHenry County, the next step is to get design plans finalized next month, Betz said.

Playground equipment totaling more than $392,000 was purchased by the city in November. Marketed as a playground for ages from “8 to 80,” Nature’s Way will have music and sensory structures, low-impact exercise equipment, a bench swing and a game table. Other features include rubber surfacing, a shelter and an Americans with Disabilities compliant bathroom, swings, slides, climbers and spinners.

About $730,100 was funded by the city of Woodstock for the roughly $1.5 million project, according to city documents.

Plenty of other changes are coming to Woodstock’s largest park, including upgraded tennis courts, pickleball courts, a new storage facility and a splash pad.

Construction of revamped tennis courts plus eight pickleball courts will be completed by June 1, Betz said.

The pickleball courts are designed so they can revert to being tennis courts if the popular sport ever loses its appeal, Betz said. Two more pickleball courts are expected to be installed in Woodstock’s Olson Park, as well.

Construction for a new storage building at Emricson Park also is underway. The old building is being demolished and a new 4,568-square-foot building will be completed by June, Betz said.

The city has been wanting to reconstruct the storage building for about three years since the current one is “completely in disrepair,” she said.

The storage facility will house equipment for all the parks and will also be a space for maintenance repairs, according to city documents. A construction bid for just under $598,000 was approved in December.

“It’s much needed,” Betz said. “We’re not even using it as a storage building right now because there are some structural problems with the building.”

The splash pad located inside Woodstock Water Works probably won’t be opened until next year, as concept designs for the project will be completed by the end of May, Betz said. Construction for the splash pad could start next spring if there are no delays in the current timeline.

The city has $300,000 budgeted for the project as of last month, according to city documents.

“Then we’ll do a really heaving fundraising campaign for it,” she said.

Officials started to work on the project as a way to honor longtime employee of Woodstock Recreation Department Melissa Canto O’Leary, who died in 2022.

“I know she would be honored to have this fund go towards something that will help kids have fun at Woodstock Water Works for years to come,” lifeguard Jerry Anderson said to the Northwest Herald in 2022.