CHAMPAIGN — After over 20 years of weathered playground amenities, King Park in Urbana will be restored and revitalized.
The park is named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is adjacent to Dr. Martin Luther King Elementary School. King Park is a pillar in the Urbana community and home to the annual Jettie Rhodes Day celebration, held on the fourth Saturday of every June.
Lashaunda Cunningham, Jettie Rhodes’ granddaughter and the organizer of Jettie Rhodes Day, is an active advocate for King Park and the bolstering of resources in this area.
“I would see funding for other Urbana parks. And it was always like, what about King Park? It’s like the park that’s forgotten,” she said. “And it’s really having at least one person, a couple of people, a group of people still advocating for predominantly brown and Black kids who live in the neighborhood.”
Since taking over the role in 2023, Keenan Portis, the Urbana Park District’s park planner, has set out to ensure community input is taken into consideration for all sorts of projects, including the King Park revitalization project, which is supported by a recently awarded state grant.
“We just don’t want to go into a park system and place things randomly, we want to make sure people’s voices are heard. And children as well. We want to hear what folks would like to see, maybe what’s lacking in that area,” Portis said.
The King Park Planning Committee was formed to invite that input. It was made up of members from the neighborhoods surrounding the park, community organizers and other local voices, including Lashaunda Cunningham.
Some community members felt the park was in need of beautification, Portis said. It’s located away from Lincoln Avenue and currently lacks adequate signage indicating that it’s a park.
Community members also wanted to change the bankshot basketball court and tennis court into full-court and half-court basketball.
Portis, along with the Urbana Park District, also asked children that play at King Park what they would like to see in the construction.
“Everytime I went to a school, they were like, ‘Gaga ball! Gaga ball!’” Portis said, referencing a game popular among kids that’s a variant of dodgeball. “So, we really are happy to have that implemented in our plans.”
The plans for King Park include most everything that was requested: more accessible walkways, the basketball courts, a teen hangout terrace, an outdoor classroom and increased beautification.
The open field space on the Lincoln Avenue side of the park will be designated as a soccer field. More signage will be added, along with flowers, an MLK collage and peace poles.
The Urbana Park District is funding this $1.2 million project with $600,000 from the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development Grant from the state of Illinois. The rest of the funding is expected to come from the DCEO Tourism Attraction state grant.
According to Portis, King Park construction should end around summer or fall of 2027, with a deadline of 2028.
Portis said he anticipates the park will be open during the project. Areas that are under construction will be closed off but parkgoers will still be able to use the space, including for the 28th annual Jettie Rhodes Day celebration in June.
“When we sit and we reflect and we think about everything, like from the beginning and as we get ready to celebrate 28 years, my grandmother would be proud, our ancestors would be proud,” Cunningham said.