Glen Ellyn Park District Weighs Spending Options for Maryknoll

At tonight's meeting the will discuss how much money to pour into .

The park board learned it can use the $30,000 that was intended for a safety village on Maryknoll Park.  

Board President Melissa Creech said the $30,000 grant was given to the park district in 2008 so a safety village could be constructed at Maryknoll Park. However, the park district voted down the project at a previous meeting, leaving the $30,000 untouched.

"We needed to figure out what could be done with the grant," Creech said.

The park district recently learned that it could still use the grant secured by State Representative Sandra Pihos (R-Glen Ellyn).

There are two catches, though: The money must be spent on Maryknoll Park, and it must be spent this year.

Board members sounded off at June 7 meeting with ideas on what kind of improvements could be made to the park. Creech later said in an interview that all of the projects had to be "shovel ready," so that the park district meets the end-of-the-year deadline.

The park district staff is looking into pricing options for planting Oak Savanna trees, repairing two ponds at the park, and erecting shade structures at Maryknoll's

Creech said "it is likely" the board will decide how to spend the $30,000 at tonight's meeting.