Category:Park district
A group of civic minded men, recognizing the needs of a growing community decided to form a park district in the year 1919. They met at the Hoffman Building on Ellinwood, the evening of February 17, 1919, and the Des Plaines Park District was born. The first parks were vest-pocket parks, such as Memorial Park, Prairie Triangle and Park Place, the location of the very popular bandstand. Band concerts were held on Thursday evenings during the spring and summer and as many as a thousand people would attend.
During the 1920's, the Park District hired Julius Feldt to maintain its own neighborhood parks and other open areas as Earle Field (now Central School) and the Library. The Park District was also in charge of cleaning up the open area surrounding the railroad station. Expansion continued during the 1920's and 30's with the area which became Rand Park being acquired in 1935. Rand Park construction began in 1936 as a W.P.A. project. It provided valuable jobs to local residents during the depression and provided the community with its largest and best equipped park to that date. The Rand Park Building was in great demand during the 1940's.
Growth of suburban areas soared during the 1950's. West Park was purchased in 1951 and Arndt (South) Park in 1952. Both park lodges were built in 1955. Fred Arndt was hired in 1956 as the first full-time Director of Parks and served the Park District for 42 years, 31 years as a commissioner and 11 as Director of Parks. 1959 Lake Park was purchased from the S.J. Grove Construction Company for $1.00 with the stipulation that land could be taken from the site for filler on the new tollway under construction. This created the large hole which became Lake Opeka. The Lake was named for Frank Opeka, Park District attorney, who died in 1961 after 16 years of service to the Park District.
During the 1960's, new park sites were purchased; Chippewa and Iroquois pools were built. Charles Pezoldt, who had been the Director of Recreation since 1957, became the first Director of Parks and Recreation in 1967 and the Park District moved its Administrative Offices from Rand Park to a store front on Pearson Street in downtown Des Plaines. The Park District outgrew its offices on Pearson Street, and in 1978, the Maple School building was purchased from School District 62 to house the administrative offices. This building has become the center of recreation activity for the district. In addition to offices, the Leisure Center has a men's and women's health club, indoor golf range, game room, gym and special classroom for dance, preschool and art. The Seniors meet here as do many other groups who use the facility for their meetings. The highlight of the 1980's is, without a doubt, the Rand Pool and Waterslide. In addition to the two 37-foot high fiberglass flumes, the pool was heated and landscaped; a special wading pool area was added, as was a new concession stand and patio area.
Today the Des Plaines Park District maintains over 250 acres of park land and over 50 facilities or park sites. Over 200 programs are offered on a seasonal basis. David Markworth is currently Director of the Park District. Dan Dowd is President of the Board, with Robert Cizek, Robert Genzen, Ed Keane and Tom Wright serving as Commissioners.
