Trewyn Park to receive $600,000 renovation this year

PEORIA (25 NEWS) - Hundreds of thousands dollars will go towards renovating a beloved Peoria park, and it won’t cost the city a dime.

The Peoria City Council approved the funding Tuesday night, which comes from federal COVID relief grants. The park district is now able to act on plans years in the making.

“You aren’t going to see like something totally brand new and off the wall,” Executive Director Emily Cahill said. “You’re going to see improvement and enhancement of the experiences that exist.”

They are planning a new playground and basketball courts. They will also improve walking paths and add a picnic shelter to a park that has been a South Peoria tradition for decades.

“It’s very scenic,” lifelong South Peoria resident and City Councilwoman Denise Jackson said. “It’s peaceful, tranquil, and it’s just beautiful.”

Jackson says the park holds a special place in her heart, having hosted many events and reunions at the park’s 110-year-old pavilion.

“[The renovations are] only going to make it that much better,” Jackson said.

This project is a partnership between the Park District and the City of Peoria. Community Development Director Joe Dulin says this unique pairing will accomplish similar goals for both organizations. That includes making the city safer, and more beautiful.

“I just appreciate the Park District coming to us with the idea to partner with us on this... It’s a great example of intergovernmental cooperation.”

The federal COVID grant money must be used in 2022. The Park District is hoping to complete the project by the end of the year. One of the most requested changes is to the basketball courts, which currently sit on a hill. Generations of Peoria kids have had to chase the ball down after it rolled down the hill after a missed shot.

“All of these people have been telling me, when they were the little brother or little cousin or whatever, their older siblings and older cousins and friends would make them go down the hill and get the ball and bring it back up,” Cahill said.

Park district leaders say the ball stops here, and it won’t roll down the hill, figuratively and literally, any longer.

Trewyn Park is located at 2219 S. Idaho St. in Peoria.

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