Richard D. Irwin Park Project
Project Information
Located at Highland Avenue and Ridge Road, in Homewood, Irwin Park is a 6-acre community
park. Land for the Irwin Center was purchased in 1985 with the help of generous donations from Richard D. Irwin. Subsequent donations from Mr. Irwin allowed the Park District to purchase 2 acres in 1987 and 0.5 acres in 1989, to bring Irwin Park to its current size.
The playground was updated in 2000 and has two structures, with elements like six slides, bridges, tunnels, ladders, fireman poles, and monkey bars. There are also two regular swings, two handicapped swings, and two baby swings at the playground, as well as benches and a drinking fountain. The park is ADA accessible.
The walkway to the park (from Gottschalk Avenue) was updated in 2025 to make it ADA Accessible.
Click here to view aerial photo
In 2025, the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District was selected to receive a $600,000.00 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the State of Illinois. The park district plans to use these funds to revitalize Irwin Park, a premier destination for many of its special events and programs.
Project Schedule
The project is estimated to begin in April 2026.
Project Overview
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The following items will be updated or added (click each item for more details):
New story walk on existing loop trail
• 5 locations with loadable signage
• ADA Accessible
New concrete pad for rotating artwork
• Artwork provided by artist/owner
New rain gardens (2)
• Dry river bed
• Pollinator plants
New rain garden seating area with interpretive sign exhibit
• Pergola
• Swing bench
• Benches (2)
• Interpretive sign exhibit (3 signs)
• New shrubs (5)
New shaded game area
• Shaded sails (2)
• Game tables (2)
• ADA game table (1)
• Disc-connect game (1)
New fitness area (6 stations)
• Shade sail
• Bench
• Cardio elliptical (2)
• Lower body equipment
• Upper body equipment
• Unitary surfacing
• ADA Accessible entrance
Playground renovations
• 2-5 play equipment
• Ramped 5-12 play equipment
• Zipline
• Swings (3 belt, 1 ADA)
• Shade sails (2)
• Benches and companion seating (4)
• Combination of unitary surfacing and engineered wood fiber surfacing
• ADA Accessible entrance
Additional updates:
• New lighting on existing statue
• New ornamental trees (2)
• New drinking fountain with bottle filler (2)
• Removal of existing baseball field (to be replaced with open play area)