Plenty of greenery to celebrate in area

East Central Illinois has a virtual plethora of parks catering to about every interest of its population year-round.

State parks; conservation, forest preserve and local districts; and Danville's city park system offer everything from nationally designated natural scenic rivers to parks catering to children with special needs and activities from baseball to tobogganing.

But the Urbana Park District also has something special to celebrate after 100 years in existence.

"It took a petition signed by 123 men to form the district – women didn't have the right to vote yet – back in 1907," said Vicki Mayes, park district executive director, "and the district has never lost its strong environmental focus."

Parks are a quality-of-life issue wherever they are.

"Parks are what create an environment where people want to live and raise their children," Mayes said. "When people get off work in a community, it's things like parks that make them want to live in that community as well. Property values near parks are higher, too."

Mayes said the district lays claim to having the largest percentage of park acreage to population among communities that are home to Big Ten universities. And she would know: Mayes also worked in Lafayette and Bloomington, Ind.

"Urbana is a well-care district with high-quality educational programs," Mayes said. "It's gone from a single park to 22 parks with 590 acres and has a long tradition of citizen involvement."

Mayes said if you check out the names of signers on the original petition, it reads like a who's who of streets and school names in the area, people who cared about and were involved in the community.

"Our advisory committee not only stays in touch with what the community wants, but they do research on special projects for us," she said.

Dan Gibble has been the superintendent of recreation for the district for 16 years but likes to say he's been around the district a lot longer than that. He ran summer day camps as a UI undergraduate, then worked in the Chicago suburbs before returning to Urbana.

For the 100th anniversary, Gibble has researched the district and its parks background.

"What stands out for me is that for East Central Illinois, even in its early history, people came to Crystal Lake Park from all directions to use the park, even before it was a part of the district," he said.

Gibble said a lot of wooded areas were cleared for agricultural use, and people were attracted to those areas that were wooded and shady as a place to come and relax.

"There are more choices now, but people still come for the same reason," Gibble said.

Parks today may be neighbor-hood parks with basketball and tennis courts and playground equipment or destination parks with restrooms and pavilions as well as natural areas.

"There are those meant for more active uses," he said. "Baseball and softball diamonds, soccer fields and sledding are examples."

Gibble said that being 100 also means that there are things needing attention due to erosion or necessary updating.

"Parks have to evolve to offer things that are of interest to people, what people like to do, which changes over the years," he said. "Today, the narrow, rough, simple trails used for walking in older parks have to be balanced with the newer wide and smooth trails that can be used for biking, hiking and rollerblading. Who knows what the trends will be in 10 to 15 years from now?

"Our responsibility remains creating spaces where people and enjoy, relax and play. Whether it's a highly competitive softball game or a quiet place to birdwatch or read a book, we're here to help people enjoy themselves."