Glencoe Park District’s highly anticipated Duke Park is now open

Despite the frigid conditions of winter in Chicagoland, the Glencoe Park District has brought its community a new place to play.

The park district celebrated the opening of Duke Park at the tail end of 2020, as construction fences were taken down just prior to the start of the new year.

According to information from the park district, the Glencoe playground, which is located at Lincoln and Crescent drives, features an interactive splashpad, a hand-crank train and a large play area with a “poured-in place safety surface.”

Trains cars will be added to the park soon and the splashpad area will open once warmer weather hits the area, officials said.

Erin Classen, the district’s superintendent of marketing and communications, told The Record the playground is ready for anyone who wants to come and enjoy it.

Classen added that residents have been eagerly awaiting the park’s opening.

“Everytime I post something on social media about it, we get a number of comments and likes and people are always asking about when it’s going to be open … for several months now,” she said. “It’s really exciting to us to be able to have completed that right as the year came to a close.”

The installation of Duke Park is part of the Glencoe Park District’s long-anticipated Connect Glencoe project, which connects five of Glencoe’s parks with a half-mile walking path between Maple Hill and Park Avenue, officials said.

“Along the path, new social spaces, drinking fountains, picnic tables, and new landscaping will be added,” information from the park district’s website reads. “In addition to the new playground at Duke Park, the project also includes improvements to the Maple Hill pedestrian crossing and a revitalized Veteran’s Park plaza.”

Classen said that the trail is completed and there are a few final details that need to be completed once the weather improves.

“The substantial work is done and some of the final touches will be put in the spring,” she said.

For more information about Duke Park or the Connect Glencoe project, visit the park district’s website.