Chicago, IL -- Sept 3rd, 2016 -- Haley performing at BG Days

[Miguel]

Formerly Busch Grove Community Park, the sprawling facility hosts a skate park, spray park, fitness center, picnic area and baseball diamond.

http://chicago.metromix.com/venues/mmxch...shKv71f.99

Yelp review from 2009:

Parks like Busch Grove make me proud to be from Buffalo Grove.

First, the park serves largely as a nature preserve. Trees, grasses, streams, and a pond are home to ducks, beavers, muskrats, and a colorful assortment of wildflowers. An asphalt trail circles through the preserve and on any sunny day you see families biking and rollerblading. To the side of the trail are signs highlighting various plants and animals you may see on your walk.

On the east end, near Buffalo Grove Road, there is a skate park and roller/ice hockey rink. The hockey rink is busy year round and the skate park is very popular as soon as it warms up.

Finally, the park is easily accessible from Willow Stream Park via the overpass over McHenry Road. Kids can safely get from the pool at Willow Stream to the skate park in Busch Grove.

Skate park:





Spray park:

"The pre-teens at center are playing with Buffalo Grove’s Bernoulli Discovery Fountain, which is designed for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Some parks isolate features by age, but Buffalo Grove’s lets children of all ages mingle."

Over the last decade, there have been five failed attempts to pass a referendum to build a community center. The 2000 referendum went down by less than 100 votes. The message from Buffalo Grove residents was clear: The community supported the need for additional space, but they it was not willing to fund these capital projects through a property tax hike.

A Refreshing Concept: Kids Just Wanna Get Wet

It has been said that Buffalo Grove Park District suffers from “aquatic envy.” In 1993 and 1999, park districts in nearby Vernon Hills and Gurnee opened state-of-the-art aquatic facilities with water slides, recreational and lap-swim spaces, and grassy picnic areas. In 2003, neighbors to the east in Wheeling opened a modern, family-oriented aquatic center that became an immediate attraction for many of Buffalo Grove’s residents. In Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove’s neighbor to the south, a community-supported, $15 million dollar referendum was passed in 2001 allowing four aged pools to be renovated into attractive new aquatic centers.



In short, Buffalo Grove’s families were leaving town to swim. That was an unpleasant reality for a district striving to be the first and best choice for community recreation. District staff considered what they could do to keep families in town. Officials knew that ‘tweens, teens and families alike were lured by aquatic centers with brightly-colored water slides, lazy rivers and wave pools. Unfortunately, these types of facilities seemed to lie beyond the realm of financial reality.

The epiphany came when the staff and administrators at the district realized that plans for these $5-million-dollar facilities are normally generated by adults with adult interests at heart. But what was the real need of the community? It was this: In the summer, people, especially kids, just want to get wet.



With this in mind, park administrators Mike Rylko and Dan Schimmel attended a seminar on aquatic playgrounds at the 2002 NRPA Congress in Tampa, Florida. It was there that they first learned about Splashpads. Fusing sleek architectural designs with fun-filled entertainment, these aquatic playgrounds are fully automated recreational systems that are revolutionizing aquatic play.

http://landscapeonline.com/research/article.php/7116

Two surprising stats:

Buffalo Grove is listed as one of “Fifty Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family” in a book by that title. Accordingly, the municipality is home to an abundance of young families—and over 90 percent of mothers there are stay-at-home moms. The town’s commitment to its families is shown through superior schools and public services, extensive youth and family programs, and a total of 50 parks.

More about the park, which is 76 acres in size (their 50 parks total 412 acres):

The area at Busch Grove Community Park was identified as being the ideal location for the Splashpad right from the start. The Didier Family used to own and operate a pumpkin farm on the property. The city bought the 76-acre plot of land for $11 million. Over the last few years, the city has developed the site and added many facilities, including a state-of-the-art fitness and medical rehabilitation center, a golf learning center, a True Ride skate park and the Vortex Splashpad, complete with a heated water recirculation system.

The park project (skate park, Splashpad, dry playground, parking lot, playground, two ball fields, interpretive nature trails, lighting and amenities) was funded through the city’s budget (annual park and recreation budget is approximately $18 million). The budget for the park project was $1.4 million.