Bristol Park and Brittany Park Playgrounds Now Open for Play
Both Bristol Park and Brittany Park reopened fall 2023 with brand new play equipment.
Fox Trails Park and Knotty Pines Park Playgrounds Now Open
Both Fox Trails Park and Knotty Pines Park reopened in the fall with brand new playground equipment.
New Hoffman Park Trail Now Open
The new trail at Hoffman Park is now open. This trail extension connects to existing trail and provides a 1.8 mile loop through Hoffman Park. In addition, the trail provides connections to the Village of Cary’s Rotary Park, existing trail on Route 31, and neighborhoods along Hoffman Park. For those travelling by foot or by bike, the trail offers several benches along the route and a bike repair station with an information kiosk at the Route 31 connection.
This is the culmination of a project that began in 2018 when the Park District was awarded a $1,104,000 Illinois Transportation Enhancement Project (ITEP) Grant. The ITEP program is a 80% federal/state match with a 20% local match. Between the grant funds and the donated funds, there was no cost to residents for this beautiful improvement.
With the assistance of the ITEP Grant program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Cary Park District has build over 6.5 miles of trail that connects to other resources throughout the community. In addition to the grant received in 2018, the Park District in 2010 also received a $546,216 ITEP Grant for the construction of the 1.70 mile Cary Community Trail.
As the season changes we encourage you to walk, run, or bike your trail system and be sure to head out to the new extension at Hoffman Park. Trail maps of the entire trail system within the Cary Park District boundaries are available at the Community Center located at 255 Briargate Road, Cary or you may view, download, and print one to take with you on your next outing.
Cary Park District Acquires New Preschool / Early Childhood Building
In August 2019 the Cary Park District purchased the property located at 100 Cary-Algonquin Road in Cary (formerly Rocky Raccoon) as the new site for the District’s Preschool program.
“The Park Board is excited to have found an early childhood building available to acquire within the community”, said Keith Frangiamore, Park Board President, “Doing so will enable the Park District to continue to provide an exceptional preschool program to both current and future resident families of the Cary Park District”.
The building is 5600 square feet and includes five classrooms, office and workspace, a kitchen, storage, restrooms, parking lot, and a fenced in play yard with brand new playground equipment. The increase of classrooms and space will allow for more enrollment opportunities within the Preschool program, the expansion of Sunshine Camp a weekly summer day camp for children ages 3 – 5 years, and an alternative location to host other Park District programs.
The Park District has offered a preschool program for over 35 years. Since the early 90s it has be held at the Lions Park Preschool building, 1180 Silver Lake Road, Cary. While that building has served the community well, it has reached the end of its useful life as a dedicated programming space. Anticipating this, over the past several years, the Board of Commissioners and staff have been evaluating other options to locate the program including alternative locations to consider for acquisition, as various buildings and properties have become available. The former “Rocky Raccoon” building is a purpose build facility for preschool and early childhood programming making it a wonderful option to meet the needs of the community and Park District.
The Park Board and staff held a brief ribbon cutting event in September 2020. The Cary Park District will welcome it’s first students to this new site beginning with fall 2020.
Cary-Grove Park Master Plan
Updating the master plan for Cary-Grove Park was identified in the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) Update 2016 as an action item. Completing a master plan for a park site addresses relationships between site amenities and features while opening a dialogue to partnership and grant opportunities. At the April 27, 2017 park board meeting, the Park Board of Commissioners approved the Cary Grove Park Master Plan.