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Yena Park Update August 6, 2025.
Permitting and Work Schedule
PHASE II (APPROVED)
The Village of La Grange Park approved a Phase II Building Permit late in the afternoon of Monday, August 4. This permit has been delivered to Landworks and allows them to activate subcontractors to continue MWRD work.
PHASE III (PENDING)
The Community Park District anticipates receiving the Phase III Building Permit from the Village tomorrow afternoon (August 7). Once we have this permit, our team will hand deliver it to Landworks and it will greenlight the completion of underground plumbing and electrical work, installation of all remaining park elements, structures and fencing. Once received, Landworks can begin the process of re-activating subcontractors to complete electrical and plumbing work, Residents can anticipate seeing these contractors onsite intermittently as early as next week. You may also see delivery of additional materials such as stone and gravel.
Landworks will also begin prepping to re-mobilize their crew. This includes refreshing existing dump tickets, additional haul-off, and remarking for utilities. This being the height of construction season, there is an extended timeline for these services. For example, JULIE is currently estimating a 98-hour response time instead of 72 hours. Landworks is also in contact with MWRD to inform them that work is resuming onsite, which requires a new site review. Landworks also estimates a 3-4 week lead time for fencing delivery, and most subcontractor work mentioned above must be completed before they can begin asphalt work or site furnishings installation. We anticipate Landworks' full crew to be reactivated in the next 3-4 weeks (Between August 28 and September 4).
SITE MAINTENANCE
Due to the project being outside the scope of the original timeline, the Community Park District staff has worked out an agreement with Landworks to take over the interior and exterior maintenance (mowing) of the project site for the next 3-4 weeks. Our team will be onsite on Friday, August 8 to mow. Residents can expect the park district to perform this maintenance on a weekly basis.
Project Scope and Timeline Changes
The Community Park District is subject to the same regulatory Village review and permitting as any resident in La Grange Park. The Village requires structural engineer reviews for all fencing and backstops, which required the park district to engage with a Geotechnical Engineer to test the soil where the existing structures were installed. The requirement for structural engineer calculations and review also prevents the park district from utilizing pre-fabricated, industry standard backstops for the ballfields. Ultimately, the park district had to redesign the fencing from the new industry standard of pile-driven posts to concrete footings. The structural engineer review indicated that footings need to be 24" in diameter and 56" in depth - which is 6"-12" wider than industry standard and significantly deeper than the frostline here in Illinois. We anticipate a minimum of 50 additional yards of concrete to be needed for the required footings. We were unable to get approval on the remaining park elements until design and review of the custom fencing was completed.
It has taken time to work through the required structural engineer review and custom design. Additionally, the Village needed additional time to review to ensure the design was in compliance with their code.
The Park District is proud of the work it has done with the Village to ensure the quality and local compliance of this project.
We are working with Landworks to update the revised project schedule and will publish that as soon as we have it.
FAQs
The following are frequently asked questions we have received from residents over the past few weeks:
Q: Has project funding for Yena Park been allocated to the acquisition of the YMCA?
A: No. The Yena Park project is funded with a $600,000 OSLAD Grant, which requires matching funds from the park district. The Park District Board of Commissioners allocated matching funding for Yena Park in 2021, and it has been invested and accruing interest per our financial policy since.
Q: Why didn't you wait to break-ground before you had all the permitting in place?
A: The park district anticipated a linear permitting process and began work as we had the correct permissions in place. The park district has very specific legal spend-down requirements it has to meet as set by the IRS as well as required by the OSLAD Grant terms. Entering into a contract and encumbering the funds needed to complete the project helps to satisfy these spend down requirements (and prevents funding for this project being spent elsewhere). Delaying the project unnecessarily could jeopardize project grant funding and subject the park district to arbitrage.
Q: Why haven't you provided more updates to the residents?
A: The park district has provided information as it has received it. A project of this scope requires working with our project manager (JSD), our outside general contractor (Landworks), the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), the Village of La Grange Park, a geotechnical engineer, JULIE, subcontractors, structural engineers, the Park District Risk Management Agency (PDRMA), and more. The park district has worked with each of these organizations to expedite their review of this project to the best of our ability.
Q: Why can't you do more to prevent the site from being an eyesore?
A: Once the park district entered into a contract with Landworks, insurance and liability requirements prevented the park staff from doing any work inside the construction fence. The park district has worked to explore solutions and will be taking over maintenance of the interior of the worksite beginning this week until Landworks' full crew is back onsite.
Q: The equipment has been sitting outside for a long time. Will that damage it before it is installed?
A: No. The playground equipment and shelter are designed to be installed outside. Storing them out of doors in a secure location will not jeopardize their structural integrity or quality.
We want to thank the residents of La Grange Park and neighbors of Yena Park for their patience as we work to improve Yena Park. This project will provide a perimeter walking path for our community, additional pickleball, a new playground, upgraded ballfields, and more. We know that the improvements have been a long-time coming, and this project has been a priority of our board and staff since 2021. We are working diligently to make sure it is done right, and within budget.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out,
Jessica Cannaday, CPRP
Executive Director
Community Park District of La Grange Park
1501 Barnsdale Road
La Grange Park, IL 60526
P: 708-354-4580
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