Plans and Goals

Capital Improvement Plan

The Oswegoland Park District owns and maintains 6 facilities, 3 aquatic facilities, 32 neighborhood parks, 3 community parks, 5 community parks with sport fields, 16 natural area parks, 9 greenways, 16.5 miles of bike and hiking trails, and many more miles of paths. All of these amenities need to be maintained and supported to continue providing opportunities for a healthy community. At the December 15, 2022 meeting, the Board of Park Commissioners voted to accept the plan for capital expenditures and improvements for 2023-2026. View the 2023-26 Capital Improvement Plan.

Park Master Plans

The Oswegoland Park District worked with Hitchcock Design Group to create Master Plans for select parks and trails within the District. It is important for Park Districts to have these plans prepared to take advantage of funding opportunities when they become available such as grants or donations. The following parks were found to have enhancement opportunities that would benefit residents throughout the District. Click on the following parks to view their Master Plans: Bluegrass Park, Farmington Lakes Park, Hudson Crossing Park, Community Park at Grande Park, and Violet Patch Park.

The Oswegoland Park District is responsible for 3 miles of the 43-mile regional Fox River Trail. The Park District is planning to expand rest stops along the trail. Locations would be chosen to enhance wildlife viewing along the Fox River Islands. Proposed rest stop amenities include benches with the capability to charge electronic devices and wildlife interpretive signage. View the Fox River Trail Master Plan.

Willowgate Farm Master Plan. The purpose of this Master Plan is to increase positive growth at the farm with a unifying vision that aligns farmstead culture, the Stewart family heritage, public education and Park District stewardship.

Comprehensive Master Plan

Plan to Play is the Oswegoland Park District’s Comprehensive Master Plan, which was adopted at the August 2019 Board meeting. Feedback for this plan was acquired through a variety of resident input channels including:

Statistically valid survey
Community open houses
25+ stakeholder group interviews
Benchmarking service analysis
Staff & Board workshops

This plan blends the analysis of parks and facilities with what we heard you say are your current and future needs for Parks and Recreation. The outcome of this effort will guide the District’s future growth and development while addressing the unique needs of our community.

This plan is a dynamic, living document that will allow the District to remain nimble in the face of change, and provides a complement to the District’s Strategic Plan, Purpose, and Values. While the Plan contains multiple recommendations in each of the seven themes, significant follow-up work will be required for various projects including additional research to determine the feasibility of the project at that time. Just because a project is mentioned in the Implement section, does not necessarily mean it will be completed.

Background

In summer of 2018, the Oswegoland Park District began developing a comprehensive master plan to establish a clear set of goals, policies, and standards for all of the Park District facilities, open space, and programs. The comprehensive master plan would provide a framework for investment in the park system over the next five to ten years.

The Park District engaged a team of consultants, led by The Lakota Group, who utilized their expertise to integrate community input, the knowledge & experience of the Park District staff, and the consultant resources & expertise to provide a comprehensive plan.

The project team included:

The Lakota Group: Project manager with experience in comprehensive planning, master planning community engagement, landscape architecture, and implementation strategies.
ETC Institute: For the design and administration of the statistically-valid community survey.
Gewalt Hamilton Associates: Providing comprehensive services in the fields of Civil Engineering, Land Surveying, and Construction Engineering.
Heller & Heller Consulting: Providing strategic planning services, recreation program assessments, operational assessments, and organization culture/change management services.
Dewberry Architects: Providing a full complement of services in architecture and interior design.

Planning Process

The planning process was organized into four phases: Analyze, Engage, Envision, and Implement.

ANALYZE

During this first phase, the team developed a comprehensive analysis of the Oswegoland community recreational offerings by working closely with Park District staff. This phase occurred concurrently with the Engage Phase and included a collection and assimilation of Park District information, including an inventory of parks, open space, recreation facilities, and program offerings.

ENGAGE

Community engagement is the foundation of a Comprehensive Plan. Throughout this phase, the team actively engaged the community in information gathering, idea and strategy generation, and action planning. While this second phase of the planning process was primarily focused on initiating the community engagement conversations, the team continued to involve the community throughout the entire planning process.

ENVISION

During the third phase of the planning process, the team created a shared long-term vision for the Park District based on the analysis completed in the previous project phases. The team also developed alternative strategies for recreation programming; existing parks and open spaces; new parks, recreation facilities, and open spaces; and area trail corridors.

IMPLEMENT

In this final phase, the team focused on outlining strategies into a long-term Vision. Recommendations for near and midterm capital and operational strategies were refined and spelled out in a clear and concise Four-Year Priority Action Plan. The Plan details schematic costs, priority level, and includes a concise action strategy for each project with dates, actions needed, funding strategies, and responsible parties.