NAPERVILLE PARK DISTRICT AND SCHOOL DISTRICT 203 PARTNERED TO IMPROVE ATHLETIC FIELDS AND COURTS
The community is invited to celebrate the Grand Reopening of Knoch Park at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 17 at Knoch Park, located at 724 S. West Street. The event will include remarks by representatives of Naperville Park District and Naperville Community Unit School District 203, followed by a ribbon cutting.
Those planning to attend the event are asked to review the Park District’s outdoor events participation guidelines at napervilleparks.org/coronavirus. Limited parking is available at Knoch Central Maintenance Facility, located at 427 W. Martin Ave., with additional on-street parking along Martin Ave., at Naperville Central High School and at the Knoch Park parking lot located south of Martin Avenue along West Street.
Over the past two years, the Park District and School District 203 worked together to plan and complete several improvements to the athletic fields and courts in the north section of Knoch Park, between Hillside Road and Martin Avenue.
In 2019 and early 2020, School District 203 constructed a new girls’ varsity softball field and a circle drive/drop-off lane at the Knoch Park Central Maintenance Facility parking lot. An intergovernmental agreement between the Park District and School District 203 includes a 20-year lease for the school to construct, maintain and use the new girls’ varsity softball field. The agreement states that in addition to school use, the field will be made available for community use.
In 2020, the Park District installed a multi-purpose synthetic turf field with sports lighting, 4 pickleball courts, walkways and landscaping. These amenities replaced two softball fields that were located in this area of the park, with softball activities relocated to the new softball field and fields in south Knoch Park. The intergovernmental agreement for the 2020 improvements includes cost sharing between the School District and Park District for the synthetic turf field, and shared use during peak times with maintenance and scheduling of the field managed by the Park District.
The synthetic turf field will expand field availability for soccer, lacrosse, football, rugby and other sports for the School District, Park District and community organizations from seasonal use to year-round use if snow is not present, and will expand daily playing time to include evening hours with the sports lighting. Additionally, the synthetic turf field will provide another location for drop-in use by small groups of residents, which is discouraged on natural turf fields due to wear and tear.
The new pickleball courts will help accommodate the community’s strong interest in the sport at a convenient, central location. The Park District funded 100% of the cost of the pickleball courts with lighting and will manage their use.
Both the synthetic turf field and the pickleball courts are open and available for players to use during daylight hours. Sports lighting is planned to be operational in September.
ABOVE PHOTO: New synthetic turf field at Knoch Park
About the Naperville Park District: Created in 1966, the Naperville Park District is an independent, municipal agency serving the recreation needs of its residents. The District is one of only 1% of park districts across the country to be nationally accredited through the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). The Naperville Park District’s mission is to provide recreation and park experiences that promote healthy lives, healthy minds and a healthy community. The District maintains and operates more than 2,400 acres with 136 parks and provides more than 1,500 recreational, arts and environmental programs and special events annually. Included within the District’s operations are two championship golf courses, a multitude of playgrounds, trails, athletic courts and sports fields, Fort Hill Activity Center, Knoch Knolls Nature Center, two inline skating and skateboarding facilities, the Millennium Carillon, a paddle boat quarry, historic Centennial Beach, and the beautiful Riverwalk.
