Glen Carbon To Apply For Grant For Schon Phase 3

By Charlie Feldman

cfeldman@timestribunenews.com

The Glen Carbon Village Board held a special meeting Monday night to vote whether to apply for funds for the next phase of Schon Park improvements. It passed.

Made available by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant (OSLAD) helps pay for parks and outdoor recreation projects. Deadline to apply this year was September 1. That’s why the board held the special meeting, according to village administrator Jamie Bowden.

“We did not have it on the agenda at the last one,” he said.

“We are proceeding to apply for an OSLAD grant from the state for the development of Phase 3 of Schon Park. That will include basketball courts, tennis courts and pickleball courts with lighting.”

The village had an OSLAD and a Metro East Park and Recreation District grant for Phase 1 of Schon Park and a MEPRD grant for Phase 2.

As stipulated in the OSLAD Act, priorities for grant allocations are given to projects that:

• provide the greatest benefit to the residents of the areas of the State that have the highest concentration or density of population; and/or
• are based on criteria established by the Department that reflect outdoor recreation needs and priorities identified through the State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP).