Major renovations are coming years down the line for two parks on the east side of Urbana.
The Urbana Park District is planning to build a wide variety of new amenities in Prairie Park and Weaver Park as part of a master plan for the area’s greenspace. The facilities will include a skate park, a water-based recreation area, a new playground and soccer fields.
The project will also create new tennis, basketball and pickleball courts.
Construction would integrate the new spaces with the Health and Wellness Center, which opened last year, and the prairie and wetlands on the edge of the parks.
“The way this facility is going to be set up, it really presents a unique opportunity to engage youth, or young adults who really maybe don’t have an interest in natural settings, to engage with it when they’re participating in an athletic activity,” said Rachel Lenz, director of the Urbana Park District. “We have these soccer fields that are going to be adjacent to the prairie and next to this wetland. Most people think about playing [soccer] games under the Friday night lights. Well, you know, you’re going to be playing a game and you’re going to see a crane fly over your field.
“It’s just going to be a really cool way to get people engaged again in maybe a setting they wouldn’t otherwise have ventured out to visit.”
Paved trails will also be built, connecting the space to the trailhead currently being built for the Kickapoo Rail Trail.
Plans for Prairie Park and Weaver Park have been in the works for years. Lenz said the park district staff incorporated feedback from community members, which led the plan to preserve much of the prairie and wetland space.
As a result, Lenz said the end result will offer places and activities for people of all ages.
“I really see this becoming a hub for Urbana, and the county to be fair,” she said. “With the amount of amenities that [are] going into this facility, I just think it’s going to have something for everybody.”
Lenz says changes to the parks are being implemented in phases, with the first phase complete after construction of the Health and Wellness Center.
The second phase, which will include additional parking lots and soccer fields, could start taking construction proposals in the fall of 2027. Lenz hopes larger renovations under phase three could kick off within the next five years.
Lenz estimates those renovations will cost around $10 million altogether. The park district is receiving support from state and federal lawmakers for the project and expects to apply for additional state grant funding.