Town of Normal to Receive Substantial Grant

NORMAL – New Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced $28.9 million in grants for 89 local projects that will help each city to develop their parks and recreational facilities throughout the state of Illinois.

When asked about the benefits this will bring to the state, Pritzker explained “Parks projects will create jobs, providing a boost to local economic development efforts in dozens of communities and spurring additional investment throughout the state.”

According to Ed Cross who is apart of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources “The money comes from the real estate transfer tax” which then goes to the states Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) which has been open since 1987.

Over the past 30 years OSLAD has invested $419.4 million in 1,765 local park projects across the state of Illinois. This year the money is spread out pretty evenly all across the state of Illinois, the most money will be given to the Cook County Forest Preserve District. The forest preserve will be given $673,900 to create a nature based recreation campus.

The town of Normal will receive $400,000 for improvements at Maxwell park, the park has been open since 1970 and could use some new equipment. The start of the construction has not been set as the city of Normal has not made any plans as of now.