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Homer Glen board adopts Lakota Group Heritage Park master plan, tables design contract pending attorney review
Summary
After a Lakota Group presentation, trustees voted to adopt the Heritage Park master plan and approved moving forward with the plan; the board tabled the related architect/engineering contract to allow village attorneys to review the agreement.
Kevin Clark, principal and director of design with the Lakota Group, presented a preferred master plan for Heritage Park that included a Veterans Memorial adjacent to a pavilion and a water feature, a tree-lined north–south promenade connecting activity zones, an amphitheater integrated into existing topography, additional soccer/flex fields and native landscaping to reduce mowing and improve habitat. “You guys have an awesome asset out here,” Clark said as he outlined circulation, parking adjacency for veterans and flexible event spaces.
Trustee Reinders described the plan as a product of committee input over the past year and said the revision aims to increase amenities—citing the amphitheater, veterans memorial, bathrooms (grant-funded), and added soccer fields. Trustees pressed for clarity that prior engineering and paid work would be preserved where possible; Lakota and staff said the master plan intentionally locates features near existing water and sewer lines to reduce engineering cost and to reuse prior investments.
After discussion the board voted to adopt an ordinance approving the Lakota Group master plan for Heritage Park. A subsequent agenda item to retain Lakota Group as the firm to provide architectural design and engineering services (L3) was moved, seconded and tabled pending legal review of the contract. Trustees emphasized the attorney should review the design/engineering contract before the village appoints the firm for the next phase.
Trustees noted there is existing grant money for bathrooms and that staff will evaluate water sourcing for the proposed water feature (including whether a well or Illinois American Water service is more cost-effective). The board asked that engineering work conserve prior project investments where practicable and that accessibility for veterans be prioritized when siting parking and facilities.
Next steps: The master plan was adopted; staff and trustees will preserve prior paid work where possible, pursue engineering and grant steps, and return with a reviewed contract or a revised procurement path once the village attorney completes contract review.
