ELGIN – Elgin officials are taking steps to make the Elgin Youth Sports Complex more appealing to visitors, including moving military memorabilia from Osborne Park to the sports complex and seeking bids for building a new splash pad.
For the first project, the Elgin City Council voted unanimously Aug. 12 to relocate the military items from Osborne Park, located at the corner of Keeney and Welch roads, to the youth sports complex. The complex, located on Commerce Street, is the home of the city’s annual Crawds and Rods event and other activities.
Moving the military items to the sports complex will ensure that more visitors see them, said Councilman Phil Britcher.
“Out there, we get people from other cities, other towns, that come and play ball and stuff,” he said. “I think we get maximum exposure out of our Little League fields because we host so many events.”
Mayor JJ Francais said Osborne Park is located on the edge of town, but the sports complex is closer to the city’s core.
“The question becomes, how much effort should we put into making Osborne Park the symbol of our city versus the youth sports complex?” he said. “We can put a playground out (at the sports complex). We can put things there to make it in the center of town.”
Francais said if the council approved the proposal to move the military items to the sports complex, as well as other projects designed to make the sports complex more appealing, city staff could start developing plans for those projects. Splash pad In a related development, the council directed city staff to seek bids from contractors interested in building a large splash pad at the sports complex.
The current splash pad uses more water in six hours than every Elgin resident combined, Francais said. He added that the city pumps between 250,000 and 300,000 gallons of water into its lagoons just for the splash pad, which he said was unsustainable.
“Everybody knows that splash pad is cool, but do you really think that you’re getting 300,000 gallons worth of fun out of – I think – six fixtures?” he said.
Francais said city officials have tried to find someone who would install a recycler at the current splash pad but haven’t had much luck. A recycler helps conserve water by collecting it from the splash pad, treating it and pumping it back into the splash pad’s spray features.
City staffers will develop specifications for the new splash pad and advertise the project for contractors to bid on. The bids may be ready for the council to consider in October.
Walking path The council also discussed the possibility of building a walking path around the sports complex but did not take action on the issue.
The board will have to consider a variety of issues related to the walking path, including the length of the path and the route it will take around the sports complex, Britcher said.
“I would think you’d want it either one mile or two miles – something of that nature,” he said.
Francais said officials will develop a couple of different options for the walking path, and the council can decide which option it prefers sometime this fall.