Throughout the day other crews come into the parks to dress & stripe ball
fields or inspect the playground equipment. All the district’s playground
equipment is inspected monthly by an on-staff trained and certified
playground inspector. The inspector looks for wear and tear on the
equipment and potential safety hazards. Anything that is found, such as a
loose bolt or wobbly handrail is escalated for immediate repair.
Meanwhile, each new day brings a new “to do list” that is handled by staff
trained in other specific fields for fixing equipment, installing cabinetry,
painting handrails, fixing lights, etc. Though it would be impossible for the
District to keep count of how many visitors use our facilities and parks every
day, it is estimated to be over ten thousand. Close to 4,000 children attend
summer camps and participate in athletics programs alone. That heavy use
requires constant repair and maintenance provided by the parks crews.
“It takes a special person to work in the field of parks services,” says Voss.
“You need to have a passion for working outside, getting your hands dirty
and enjoying the satisfaction of making something look better.” Voss
himself is has been in the department for 20 years moving up the ranks to
his current position.
“We truly have one of the most dedicated parks crews in Illinois,” continues
Voss. “More than half of our fulltime staff has been here for over ten years
and one of our staff members has been here for over 40 years. It is hard
manual work, but at the end of the day we are proud of the work we do…
keeping our parks beautiful.”
The Park District is breaking ground
this year on a new centralized Parks
and Golf Operations Center to be
located at the current site of district’s
golf maintenance building (1240
Fredrickson) on the west side of the
Sunset Valley Golf Course.
The new facility will replace both
the golf maintenance facility and
the District’s parks maintenance
Facility located south of the Sunset
Valley clubhouse. Both facilities are
inefficient and inadequate for the
current and future needs of the Park
District and Sunset Valley.
For more information and updates
on the project go to pdhp.org.
PARKS BY THE NUMBERS
29 park bathrooms are cleaned daily
36 park water fountains maintained
24 annual flower beds planted and
maintained
100 miles of striping laid down on
the sports fields from
April – mid June
26 playgrounds are inspected
monthly
Summer 2017 • Park District of Highland Park
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