July 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 18

Community Center
Beach Transformation Creates
Educational, Recreational Oasis
By Gary Silbar

hat was once an underutilized, rock strewn beach on the shores
of Lake Michigan in Highland Park, Illinois, has been reborn
as a unique multifunctional, educational and recreational oasis. Through the efforts of the Park District of Highland Park
(PDHP), Rosewood Beach now offers area students a lakeside classroom for
the exploration and study of Lake Michigan's coastal zone. Rosewood Beach
is also a recreational haven, providing families in the surrounding community with a place to enjoy a variety of activities, including early morning yoga
classes, deep-water swimming programs, beach volleyball, or just to relax in a
pristine beach environment.
The restoration of Rosewood Beach,
a $12 million project, is the result of a
comprehensive plan where community
involvement played a key role in the ultimate outcome. It was vitally important to PDHP to continue a long-held
practice of seeking ongoing conversations and input from the community
for the project concept and design. A

resident volunteer Rosewood Task
Force was recruited and met regularly
for more than a year to develop the extraordinary design plan for Rosewood.
A grassroots citizen group, Friends of
Rosewood, was also spontaneously
formed to support the project and help
move it along its path to approval.
" It's phenomenal, " says Michelle

Community input proved a vital part of the Rosewood Beach restoration project, as
residents weighed in about their priorities and expectations.
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Holleman, a 20-year Highland Park
resident and lead organizer of Friends
of Rosewood Beach. " This is one of
those few projects that truly delivers
on the plan. What we saw on paper
was fully realized and is better than
anything we could have imagined. "
Execution of the Rosewood Beach
project was a collaborative effort between PDHP and the United States
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as part of the Great Lakes
Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration
(GLFER) program. GLFER authorizes federal funding for the USACE
to cooperate with other federal, state
and local agencies and the Great
Lakes Fishery Commission to implement projects that support the restoration of the fishery, ecosystem and
beneficial uses of the Great Lakes.
A Beach with Purpose
According to Liza McElroy, PDHP
executive director, the focal points
of the beach are three distinct coves
that enable a variety of programming
options to take place simultaneously.
Environmentally friendly and architecturally sensitive facilities are nestled against the wooded bluffs and
linked by a continuous 1,500-foot
boardwalk made of ipe, a durable
South American hardwood.
Rosewood Beach also serves as a
lakeside living classroom for PDHP's
environmental education summer
camps. And this fall, elementary and
secondary school field trips, high
school environmental science field

July 2015 - Parks & Recreation

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