224 Acres Will Be Elgin Regional Park (IL)

Elgin, Ill., 6/9/05 — The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national non-profit conservation organization, announced today that it has purchased and protected 224 acres in Elgin’s far-west growth area so the city can one day transform the property into a multi-use regional park.

Today’s purchase from the Pollnow family ensures the land, which lies just north of the Plank Road and Muirhead Road intersection in Plato Township, will remain free from development. The land was immediately turned over to Elgin, which will develop and maintain what eventually be the city’s largest park.

?”We are proud to be a part of this process,” said TPL Senior Project Manager Jeffrey Greenspan. “That’s because Elgin leaders, in the face of dramatic development pressures, are not just planning for new homes, they are making sure the recreational needs of those who will live in those new homes are met.”

Pollnow family spokesman Marv Dittman said the protection and future park use of his family’s legacy of land was only possible because of the work of TPL.

?”We are happy this land will remain as open space and that it will be used by the public for recreation,” Dittman said. “We are grateful for all that Elgin officials have done to assist in this process, but there is no question that without the efforts of Jeff Greenspan and TPL, this deal would not have happened.”

Elgin will partner with the Kane County Forest Preserve to develop nearly 127 acres with active park amenities, leaving the rest to be developed into a more passive natural setting normally seen at forest preserves across the county.

?Active park amenities planned at the future park include more than 30 football, baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts, a possible water park, bike paths, an indoor recreation facility, and even a new lake.

“We’re grateful that TPL can help us realize this vision for parks and open space,” Reopelle said. “They negotiated this deal, and there’s great value in that. It saved us a great amount of time and money. It’s safe to say this deal wouldn’t have happened as quickly or progressed as smoothly as it would have without TPL’s involvement.”

This is not the first collaboration between Elgin and TPL. In recent years, the city has called on TPL to help devise a detailed analysis of current and future park needs and develop a strategy the city can follow to meet those needs.

The Trust for Public Land specializes in conservation real estate, applying its expertise in negotiations, public finance, and law, to protect land for people to enjoy as parks, greenways, community gardens, urban playgrounds, and wilderness. Regional accomplishments include the protection of Plum Island near Starved Rock State Park in Illinois, 92 acres of land along the Kishwaukee River in Boone County, numerous city parks in Chicago and the protection of various properties within the recently completed Hobart Marsh complex in Northwest Indiana. Nationwide, TPL has helped protect more than 2 million acres.