User:NatFee/Peoria Park District

Peoria Park District is the oldest and largest park district in the state of Illinois.

History
The Peoria Park District was founded in 1894 as The Pleasure Driveway and Park District of Peoria.

Awards

 * 1994, 2001, and 2010 National Gold Medal Awards for excellence in park and recreation management
 * Accreditation as one of the first Illinois Distinguished Park Districts
 * Employer of the Year by the AAIM Employers’ Association

Bonnie Noble
Bonnie W. Noble served the park district in different capacities for 43 years. In 1973, she was the first woman elected to the park's board of trustees and became the board president in 1979. She served as executive director for 24 years from 1992 to 2016. In 2004, Noble was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy for Parks and Recreation. Noble campaigned for funding the Peoria Playhouse Children's Museum, tripled the size of the Peoria Zoo, partnered with OSF Saint Francis Medical Center to build the downtown RiverPlex, and helped develop the trail system of the Rock Island Greenway. She retired in the spring of 2016. The new home of the Parks District, Bonnie W. Noble Center for Park District Administration, was named in her honor. Noble died on September 9, 2021.

John Martin Becker Park
Also known as Becker Park, it is 14 acre located at 3401 West Woodhill Lane (coordinates ).

Bielfeldt Park
it is 21 acre located at 5319 North Galena Road (coordinates ).

Laura Bradley Park
it is 140 acre located at 1317 North Park Road (coordinates ).

Camp Wokanda
Camp Wokanda was acquired from W.D. Boyce Council of the Scouts BSA of America. It is 300 acre located at 620 East Boy Scout Road, Chillicothe (coordinates ). The park has a lake for fishing and camping amenities are available, including a dining hall, sleeping cabins, and program buildings. Programming such as naturalist tours and environmental educations is available.

Charter Oak Park
it is 120 acre located at 5802 North Orange Prairie Road (coordinates ).

Chartwell Park
it is 25 acre located at 2828 West Willow Lake Drive (coordinates ).

Columbia Park
it is 20 acre located on West Creighton Terrace (coordinates ).

Creighton Woods Park
it is 2 acre located at 307 West McClure Avenue (coordinates ).

Detweiller Park
it is 760 acre located at 8327 North Galena Road (coordinates ).

Donovan Park
it is 1 acre located at 5805 North Knoxville Avenue (coordinates ). Donovan Park is adjacent to the Rock Island Greenway. Northmoor Observatory is located in Donovan Park. It is an accredited Level 1 Arboretum. It has three ponds for fishing and a sculpture garden. It was a savanna habitat, then a farm, turned into a golf course, and is being restored to savanna once again.

Endres Park
it is 10 acre located at 5100 North Willard Road, Peoria Heights (coordinates ).

Forest Park
it is 540 acre located at 5809 North Forest Park Drive, Peoria Heights (coordinates ).

Franciscan Recreation Complex
it is 0 acre located at 908 North Sterling Avenue (coordinates ). The complex has a full size gym available for event rental, leagues, practices, and games. Programming includes pickleball and volleyball open gyms.

Giant Oak Park
it is 0 acre located at 426 West High Street (coordinates ). As one of Peoria's smallest parks, its namesake is a large burr oak tree, at least 300 years old with branches at least 100 ft long and a trunk 13 ft in circumference. The park features the historic Easton Fountain.

Glen Oak Park
it is 117 acre located at 2218 North Prospect Road (coordinates ).

Grand View Drive
it is 180 acre located at 3210 Grandview Drive (coordinates ). Grandview Drive stretches from Prospect Road to Illinois Route 29, and is a winding road with several sight-seeing areas. There is also a large park, known as Grandview Park.

John H. Gwynn Jr. Park
it is 17 acre located at 809 W John H Gwynn Jr Ave (coordinates ). It has an aquatic center with a zero depth pool, water slide, diving well, and a wet sand play area.

Kellogg Golf Course
it is 6,399 yd located at 7716 North Radnor Road (coordinates ). The 18-hole course is designed for low to medium handicap golfers, with an executive 9-hole course.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park
it is 7 acre located at 825 West McBean Street (coordinates ). It has a firehouse-inspired playground.

Lakeview Park
it is 40 acre located at 1125 West Lake Avenue (coordinates ). Lakeview Park is home to the Peoria Park District administrative offices, named the Bonnie W. Noble Center for Administration. It contains the Lakeview Recreation Center, Owens Center, Girl Scouts of Central Illinois, Peoria Public Library Lakeview Branch, and Peoria Players Theatre.

Leslie Rutherford Park
it is 0 acre located in Dunlap (coordinates ).

Logan Park
it is 0 acre located at 1414 South Livingston Street (coordinates ).

Luthy Botanical Garden
Luthy Botanical

Madison Golf Course
it is an 18-hole 5,332 yd golf course located at (coordinates ).

Manning Park
it is 0 acre located on North Manning Drive (coordinates ).

Markwoodlands Park
it is 18 acre located at 6001 North Frostwood Parkway (coordinates ). It is next to Mark Bills School.

Morton Square Park
it is 3 acre located at 901 Northeast Monroe Street (coordinates ).

Mossville Soccer Complex
it is 0 acre located at 12026 North Old Galena Road, Chillicothe (coordinates ).

Newman Golf Course
it is an 18-hole 6,497 yd golf course located at 2021 West Nebraska Avenue (coordinates ).

Peoria Playhouse Children's Museum
The Peoria Park District moved out of the Glen Oak Pavilion in February 2014 and the new Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum took up residence. The Children's Museum officially opened in 2015 after 15 years of planning and development.

Proctor Center
it is 0 acre located on South DuSable Street (coordinates ).

Riverfront Park
it is 0 acre located at 1317 North Park Road (coordinates ).

Riverplex Recreation and Wellness
it is 0 acre located at 600 Northeast Water Street (coordinates ).

Robinson Park
it is 675 acre located at 400 West Mossville Road (coordinates ).

Rocky Glen Park
it is 0 acre located on Kickapoo Creek Road (coordinates ).

Bicycle Safety Town
Bicycle Safety Town is a park where kids can learn to ride bicycles. It is located at 6518 North Sheridan Road. There are approximately 4000 ft of simulated roadways such as one-way streets, curves, traffic signals, and overpasses.

Schmoeger Park
it is 42 acre located at 3400 North Western Avenue (coordinates ).

Sommer Farm
it is 320 acre located at 6329 N Koerner Rd, Edwards (coordinates ).

Sommer Park North
it is 0 acre located at 6600 North Basket Oak Drive, Edwards (coordinates ).

Stadium Park
it is 7.5 acre located at 500 East Lake Avenue (coordinates ).

Timothy J. Cassidy Park
it is 25 acre located at 1621 West Meadowview Drive, Dunlap (coordinates ).

Trewyn Park
Trewyn Park is on the south side of Peoria and is one of the oldest parks in the district, created in the 1890s and one of the first five parks. The pavilion was built in 1913. Today it houses a Head Start program with event space on the upper level available for rent.

In 2022, the Peoria City Council voted to approve a $600,000 plan to renovate the park with a new playground, accessible walkways, new basketball courts, and a shelter with picnic tables.

Rock Island Greenway
The Rock Island Trail is 38 miles from Toulon to Peoria on the old track bed of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It was dedicated in 1989. Peoria and Peoria Heights purchased the Kellar Branch in 1984, but due to legal issues, construction didn't begin on the spur until 2010. The Peoria Park District maintains approximately 13 mi from Downtown Peoria to Alta; this section is known as the Rock Island Greenway.

Illinois River Bluff Trail
The Illinois River Bluff Trail connects four parks on a 6.9 mi trail along the river bluff: Camp Wokanda (northern trail terminus), Robinson Park at Mossville Road, Green Valley Camp, and Detweiller Park (southern trail terminus).

Kinsey Park Trails
Kinsey Park is a Wizard of Oz themed bike park. The property is managed by the Peoria Park District, and the 13 mi of trails are maintained by volunteers of the Peoria Area Mountain Bike Association (PAMBA).

Pimiteoui Trail
Pimiteoui Trail in Peoria Heights is 2.1 mi trail from Grandview Drive to Forest Park Nature Center.

Tawny Oaks
The field station is located at 715 West Singing Woods Road, Edelstein. Tawny Oaks features a prairie restoration, 0.5 mi of accessible gravel trail, a picnic area, and visitor center with restrooms. It is open seasonally and offers various workshops, educational walks, and bird watching events.