Park Improvements at The Prairie Park

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The Park Investment Committee was created to work directly with City and local elected officials to seek large amounts of grant funding for the park improvements needed for The Prairie Park. 

Lorraine Linnerud, Chair; Kenith Bergeron, Co-Chair

Members:  JoAnn Altenbach, Mary Dunneback, Charmaine Sevier, Ivette Williams

The Grant Writing Committee was created to apply for grants available through other sources such as Chicago Parks Foundation, AARP, America Walks, Cook County Gardening Grants, etc.

Jil Ross, Chair; Ivette Williams, Co-Chair

Members welcome to join.

The Marketing, Fundraising & Community Outreach Committee was created to keep our community informed, engaged and recruit volunteer base; help with fundraising events; donation links; help spread the word about park events; get everyone out and meet one another in the community. All are welcome to join one or more of any of our committees. Many overlap and we all work well together.

Ivette Williams, Chair; Charmaine Sevier, Co-Chair

Members: Dorothy Chandler, Maryann Drake, Candace Evans, Danielle Jones, Julie Karstrand, Birgit LaVoie, Jil Ross

A community survey was conducted in March 2022, and the community was in favor of the these top 3 priority improvements:

◦ walking path around the park;

◦ dim lighting along the path; and

◦ a water source for a community garden and water fountain.

Since The Prairie Park was acquired by the Chicago Park District in 2016, a regrading of the field was done that year.

No other capital improvements have been done to improve the open green space of 8.74 acres that is used for sports year round, mainly soccer, lacrosse and flag football, entertainment in the summer with  a jazz concert sponsored by our 19th Ward Alderman Matt O’Shea, health events (yoga and cardio drumming in the park), PAC events hosted throughout the year for the community such as kite flying, book reading, Meet & Greet, community garage sale, park clean-ups, community garden, mulching and tree trimming, and so on.

The Park Investment Committee and Grant Committee have applied for numerous grants since we formed the park advisory council for The Prairie Park.

The first grant we applied for in 2021 was the City’s 1.5MM Chicago Works Community Challenge Grant, which we were one of 3 finalists in the South region. Although we did not win, we learned a great deal and were very proud of our accomplishment. We will not give up.  

In 2022, we applied for the Chicago Parks Foundation “Connecting Communities” Grant and we received this award. We were able to purchase a variety of garden tools and a wheelbarrow to assist in park clean-up events and community garden revitalization project.

In 2023, we applied for AARP’s Community Challenge Grant and Microgrant, but were not selected for either. We will apply again.

As we continued to pursue other grants, we applied through the Chicago Park District for the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) Grant ($1.2MM) and Build Illinois Bond Grant ($500,000) with assistance from our local elected leaders, Ald. Matt O’Shea and State Rep. Justin Slaughter. These grants would significantly help fund the capital improvements needed at The Prairie Park to make it safer and more enjoyable for everyone.

We received word last year we were not selected for the OSLAD Grant, but still had a chance with the Build Illinois Bond Grant.

In February 2024, we received confirmation that our park was approved for the BUILD Illinois Bond Grant for $500,000 thanks to our 27th District State Representative Justin Slaughter, who worked tirelessly in Springfield on our behalf. Our lead contact was the Park Investment Committee chair, Lorraine Linnerud, who kept us updated on every step of this long process.

The BUILD Illinois Bond is not a matching grant, but would cover the top 3 improvements needed: walking path, lighting and a water source. Anything additional would need to be covered by other entities, donations or grants in process.

We are waiting for a project manager to be assigned by the Chicago Park District to oversee the design and construction in phases with assistance from our 19th Ward Alderman Matt O’Shea.

We are all very excited about this and will let you know when the project will actually begin for a ground breaking ceremony.  The project may affect some activities at the park, but in the end, it will be an improved park for all to enjoy. We thank you in advance for your patience throughout this process. As we learn more details, we will post them here.

The Grant committee has recently applied for the following grants to add amenities to the park, such as a water fountain, ADA-compliant benches, community garden, etc.:

◦ Chicago Parks Foundation “Connecting Communities”

◦ AARP’s “Community Challenge” Grants (1-AARP Flagship: 2- AARP Microgrant partnering with America Walks).

As a PAC, you have our commitment that we will continue to advocate for The Prairie Park and our community to improve and make the park safer for everyone to enjoy. That has been our mission since we started in 2021.