Streator lands $219,000 for Marilla Park pond area improvements

The Marilla Park pond area in Streator is about to become more accommodating for fishing and ice skating.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced Tuesday that Marilla Park was one of 111 projects statewide to receive an Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant, with the city receiving $219,900.

The funds will go to install gabion baskets along the south side of the pond (which is Otter Creek), to resurface the parking lot and for two new shelters, said City Engineer Jeremy Palm. There also will be a graded walkway added from the parking lot to the pond to allow for easier access in the winter for ice skating, Palm said.

The Marilla Park project coincides with improvements made by the Streator Lions Club. Volunteers installed gabion baskets for first 30 feet from the bridge this past fall and installed a handicapped ramp that allows people in wheelchairs or with other accessible issues to fish from the pond banks. The grant will allow the city to continue gabion basket installation along the entire south bank.

This was Streator’s third attempt at an OSLAD grant for this project.

Mayor Tara Bedei reacted Tuesday sharing the information on Facebook and calling it “great news!”

The improvements will come a little more than three years after the International Union of Operating Engineers 150 volunteered to dredge the park’s pond to get a depth of about 5 feet. Dredging is the process of scooping out mud, weeds and garbage from a body of water’s bed in order to make it deeper. Dredging improves fishing conditions.

Established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1986, OSLAD is a cost-sharing program between state and local governments that helps communities fund land acquisition and development for parks and outdoor recreation projects. It’s become one of the most popular grant programs in Illinois. The state invested $54.9 million in OSLAD grants this year.