Winnetka Park District & Serving the Community

In this episode, JOHN PETERSON discusses:

Winnetka Park District's commitment to sustainability includes cutting down on plastic waste and developing a blossoming butterfly garden.
The unique blend of leisure and education at the park district ensures meaningful community engagement.
The importance of emergency readiness and fruitful cooperation with local authorities.
The essential role of measuring the impact of community-oriented programs for continued growth and success.Looking forward to an expanded future, complete with pristine beach areas and modern indoor tennis courts.

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Check out the interview

How did your career lead to Winnetka?
I spent time here for college, and my wife and I centered our lives in and around the area, notably the last 11 years in Winnetka. That allowed me to retire from a corporate job in risk management. I previously served as a park district commissioner, which is a great way for people to contribute to their community. I saw that as a fantastic opportunity
to weave sports in my background with the Park District in Winnetka. In the fifth year of serving as a commissioner, the then-executive director wanted to retire. I thought, “What a great way to step up and serve the community.” So, I took the job as the Executive Director, coming up on the end of three years.

What are some of the Park District’s popular programs & activities?
Our beachfront is a fantastic place for people to spend time; whether it’s our sailing program, jet skis, paddle boards, or kayaks, it is always active. Maybe even more popular are our summer camps. Plus, the 4th of July celebration, the parade, the post-parade activities, and culminating in the fireworks display in the evening. Summer is really when things get exciting around here.

How do you prioritize projects?
We have infrastructure needs, which are, first and foremost, to ensure that our facilities & programs are up to speed. Then, we get to some of the wants. It comes down to 2-3 critical assets: the employees and availability of labor; available land; and capital. We also keep a close eye on caucuses, such as the committee-wide survey, and what we’re hearing from them.

How can the community contact the Park District?
We have an online portal; they obviously can stop into the office; they can visit or participate in our board meetings which are held every two weeks, or by email. Whatever it might be, all communication is great.

Explain the KemperSports partnership.
When we looked at the work being done to reconstruct the 9-hole par 3 course and 18-hole championship course, we’d never done that before. So a partnership was struck in the 4th quarter of 2022 such that KemperSports is now overseeing the construction of our 27 holes of golf, the 9-hole and 18-hole course, each being reconstructed. It’s a great partnership.

Are there plans for future expansion or growth?
The Elder Lane Park & Beach and Centennial Park & Beach are areas where we’re looking to bring added community amenities to our shoreline. Also, we’re going to improve the ADA access to the shoreline significantly. Our turf field will need to be replaced in 2025. We have a couple of wants: Demand for indoor tennis courts (Nov 1 - Mar 31) significantly outstrips available supply, so we’ve had an initial conversation with the village to look at a bubble we can put over four of our current outdoor tennis courts. The Ice Arena: we have one sheet of ice, and there’s certainly a demand that could allow us to create a second sheet of ice. And we are just in the final stages of the two platform tennis courts.

Today’s Guest John:

Quotable: “Our number one responsibility is to work collaboratively with the other governments that serve the community in a manner that brings more robust programming and cost efficiencies that ultimately are to the betterment of the residents.”
About :
Connect:
- Website: https://www.winpark.org/
- Email: wpdinfo@winpark.org
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-peterson-15330975/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winnetkaparks