The Park District of Oak Park was notified in June, 2012 by the Office of Governor Quinn and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that our community will receive a $400,000 matching grant for the development of Lindberg Park. These funds are part of the Open Space and Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) Grant Program which provides matching dollars for outdoor recreation space projects throughout Illinois.

The Park District was eligible for this grant program due to the successful passing of the “Renew Our Parks” referendum by Oak Park voters in April 2005. The local matching funds of $400,000 will be funded out of the Park District of Oak Park’s Capital Improvement Fund. A site plan for Lindberg Park was completed in December 2010 which is a requirement for an OSLAD grant application. Since 2005, the Park District has secured nearly $3.2 million in OSLAD grant funds for park improvements at Field, Longfellow, Taylor, Mills, Lindberg, Maple and Euclid Square parks and at Austin Gardens. A PARC (Parks and Recreation Construction) Grant for $1.6 million was awarded to the Park District in December 2011 for the entire renovation of Scoville Park which officially re-opened on Saturday, June 1, 2013.