New Wicker Park Playground Will Feature Parents' Design Picks

Crews will break ground Friday on a demolition and overhaul of Jose de Diego Elementary School’s playground—a move school officials say will integrate it more into the neighboring Clemente Park. 

De Diego Principal Alice Vera says the project has been a long time coming because, for a while, it was unclear whether Clemente Park belonged to the Chicago Parks District or the Chicago Public School district.

Several years later, the school is now ready to expand and create an active new playground for its students.

“I have to give credit to our alderman, Joe Moreno,” Vera said. “He worked tirelessly along with CPS, and we managed to get the land. And we had a parent group who worked along with Moreno for I want to say four years. It’s been a long time coming, so you can just imagine our excitement.”

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While the Chicago construction permit estimates the demolition and rebuild for the project to cost roughly $500,000, Vera says she thinks it’s more than that.

The parent group at De Diego worked with Moreno to get TIF funding, and CPS matched those dollar, Vera said.

Under TIF district financing, the assessed value of the land is frozen for taxing purposes. As the value increases because of new development, any additional tax dollars generated from that increase go toward paying off the initial investment.

Crews plan to use the money to build a new playground suitable for pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade children. The best part? The parent group was able to choose 100 percent of the playground’s features.

“We’re just really excited,” Vera said. “Diego is a Go for the Gold school, (which is a healthy schools campaign), so physical activity is very important here. We’re looking forward to starting the new school year with a great playground that will also beautify the area and allow us to get learning done outside.”

Vera says the project should be completed around the third week of July. Ald. Moreno plans to be at the groundbreaking ceremony, his representatives said.