Safety challenge win means grant for new Naperville plaza
A plaza designed to bring new outdoor activity to south Naperville is getting a budget boost from a national organization dedicated not to parks or open space, but to cleaning product safety.
Naperville is the first community in the nation to win the Packets UP! Safety Challenge, which was put on by the American Cleaning Institute to promote safe storage of laundry detergent pods or packets.
"The goal of the campaign was to empower a community to rally its own to modify safety behaviors by demonstrating prevention, in this case, putting liquid laundry packets up and out of sight from children to reduce unintended exposures," said Brian Sansoni, vice president of communication and outreach for the American Cleaning Institute. "We saw extraordinary engagement from the Naperville community."
As a prize for winning the challenge - with more than 750 participating social media posts showing safe storage of the detergent packets - Naperville Park District will receive a $10,000 grant this month from the cleaning institute to put toward construction next year of the 95th Street Community Plaza.
The plaza is a gathering space planned for a 2-acre site in Frontier Sports Complex that lies immediately south of the 95th Street Library and next to Neuqua Valley High School. The site is "two acres of weeds that could be better utilized for the community," said Ray McGury, the park district's executive director. But it's soon to become more.
Planned amenities include an amphitheater with a band shell, a fitness lawn, playgrounds, outdoor classrooms, shelters, restrooms, sculptures, plantings and seating.
Recently added to the plan is a splash pad for warm-weather enjoyment. McGury said the park district tweaked designs to find money for a splash pad within the $2.8 million budget after the district repeatedly heard calls for such a feature from residents.
"The 95th Street plaza is going to be a destination point, I predict, for all of Naperville, but specifically great for the south part of Naperville," McGury said. "It's just going to be a haven for kids and parents and seniors to be outside and enjoy."
McGury said it's too early to tell exactly which component of the plaza will be built using the grant from the Packets UP! Safety Challenge. But the money will help with the first phase, which also will include added parking.
Payments from developers - including a potential chunk from Pulte Homes if the Naperville City Council approves plans for a 312-house subdivision - will contribute to the plaza as well.
In potential later phases, the park district could collaborate with the city and Indian Prairie Unit District 204 to provide more trail connections and improve Cedar Glade Drive near the plaza, as well as its sidewalks and streetscapes.