UPTOWN — A small playground in Uptown will get a makeover after being chosen for the Chicago Park District's Chicago Plays! renovation program.
The Chase Park Advisory Council's June newsletter announced that one of its satellite playlots in Uptown, Aster Playlot Park at 4639 N. Kenmore Ave., "will be one of the first playgrounds to be built in the first year of the Chicago Plays! program."
The council said it is "thrilled to have been selected for this grant program and to see this new playground become a reality!" Chase Park is located at 4701 N. Ashland Ave.
The advisory council plans to spend coming months working with the park district and Friends of the Parks to determine playground designs and construction dates.
And at some point, "the community will have the opportunity to select playground equipment based on the provided designs," according to the newsletter.
The Chicago Plays! Program is an effort to revitalize playgrounds throughout the city. The park district has identified 250 parks "as more than 15 years old and in need of replacement," according to Friends of the Parks. Community groups across the city submitted applications this spring to compete for the renovations, and the playgrounds that were chosen for renovations will be updated in the fall.
Advisory councils will get to choose from between two design options for the playgrounds. The surface of the playgrounds will be composed of Fibar, a soft, synthetic product made to resemble wood chips.
Typically, the park district covers a third of the cost of playground renovations and splits the remainder of the bill between the alderman's office and other private interests, including park advisory councils. But with Chicago Plays!, the park district's capital budget is footing the entire bill.
Communities who choose a customized design have the option of going the traditional funding route. And signature features in parks will be refurbished instead of removed, officials said.
