HEROES of the PARKS
Within a short few hours after the last team has left the field, when the evening
dog walkers are already headed for home from a quick jaunt in the park and the
remaining stray swimmers have toweled off and are filing out of Hidden Creek
AquaPark, the real work begins.
In the wee morning hours, they begin arriving at the
70-year-old parks building located just south of the
Sunset Valley Golf Course clubhouse to make ready for
the work day ahead. It happens 365 days of the year. Few
see it begin, except perhaps for some early morning
joggers and few white tailed deer.
Welcome to a behind the scenes look at the dedicated
parks services crew that keeps +700-acres of Park District
land, including 44 parks and seven facilities humming.
Hours before the camp counselors, teachers and
lifeguards arrive, parks workers have already put in
several hours to ensure that the District is ready for
another busy day. “May and June are the busiest time
for our crews,” says Dan Voss, Director of Parks Services.
“We are in full swing preparing for the summer season
opening of the Park Avenue boating facility, Rosewood
Beach and Hidden Creek AquaPark; prepping ten ball
fields and ten soccer fields; and sprucing up the facilities
with annual plantings, mulching, tree trimming and
grounds clean-up.”
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During those two months, the crew’s numbers ramp up
from 26 to 47 workers including electricians, grounds
keepers, carpenters and mechanics to handle the heavy
summer workload to ensure the parks and facilities are
clean and safe.
The regular day-to-day jobs have to get done too. The
district’s most active parks – Rosewood Beach, Larry
Fink Memorial Park, Sunset Woods and Danny Cunniff
have a dedicated staff member assigned to keep the
park maintained every day. A typical morning includes
opening and cleaning the park bathrooms (29 park
bathrooms in all and cleaned daily!), doing the garbage
route, cleaning tennis courts, fixing nets, cleaning ball
field bleachers and the play area grounds. The afternoons
are dedicated to mowing, weeding and trimming.
Because the District does not use pesticides, weeding in
the parks and around the facilities is done by hand.
Park District of Highland Park • 847.831.3810 • pdhp.org