The Riverside School District 96 school board unanimously approved Wednesday an intergovernmental agreement with the village of Riverside for a new playground and multi-use court at Blythe Park. The school district will build the playground, which Riverside will maintain, on village-owned property while Riverside will handle replacing the tennis court with a new court for multiple sports, including both tennis and basketball.
“It’s been our goal to improve our playgrounds and separate play from parking in all of our school areas,” D96 superintendent Martha Ryan-Toye said Thursday. “It has an older playground, so there’s a way to improve overall safety but also the engagement in the play opportunities children have.”
Ryan-Toye said multiple parties will be involved in playground design, including parents, students and Blythe Park neighbors. Meetings among those parties will commence late spring or in the fall, she said.
“We would be building a playground on land we don’t own,” board vice president Joel Marhoul said Wednesday. “However, we have a solid agreement and the culture of the village is such I think the risk is infinitesimal.”
“The village went through a very thoughtful process in making sure that they got feedback from many different groups within the community,” added board member Salina Claps. “I think as a district we will take a very thoughtful approach that the playground we build is consistent with what the community needs.”