Northwest Quadrant Will Green Downtown

Jewett Park already gives downtown Deerfield’s northwest quadrant plenty of green space and it will be getting greener in the future.

The public got a look at plans and drawings for the Village’s Northwest Quadrant—the area bound by Waukegan Road on the east, Deerfield Road on the south, the railroad tracks on the west and Hazel Avenue on the north—at an open house Tuesday.

Earlier: Ideas Coming for Downtown Beautification

“We had a nice number of people and they came with good questions,” Deerfield Village Trustee Tom Jester said. He chairs the working group charged with overseeing the process for the area. “Most of the discussion was (about) where all the parking would be.”

Though the primary objective of the project will be making the area both greener and friendlier to pedestrians and bicycle riders, a portion of the quadrant includes parking lots between Waukegan Road and the railroad tracks along Deerfield Road.

“It’s about the same,” Jester said regarding the number of planned parking spaces. “The plan includes adding green space to the quadrant.”

The open house was an opportunity for the public to see renderings and other plans developed by a team of consultants and planners hired by the Village. They saw renderings offering different possibilities for the area.

That beautification could include artwork and other attractive features. “There could be public art and water features,” Principal Planner Jeff Ryckaert said in September. “It will all come out in the design process.”

The task force working on the project includes the stakeholders in the area including the Village, the Deerfield Park District, the Deerfield Public Library, the First Presbyterian Church and commercial property owners. “We have every entity,” Jester said. 

Most of the area consists of public lands including the Village Hall, the library and Jewett Park. Though it does not include the railroad station, it contains a number of parking lots. The park is the largest piece of the Northwest Quadrant.

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