October 2017
Perillo Park
Perillo Park Renovation with KaBoom! and Target
In just 6 hours on October 26th, Blue Island Park District commissioners and staff, local officials, community volunteers, KaBOOM staff and representatives from corporate sponsor Target®, completed a total renovation of Perillo Park, 2744 Desplaines St.
After breakfast, a brief welcome from project leaders, and some warm-up exercises, volunteer teams quickly got to work. As the dust settled and the sounds of shovels, hammers, and power tools subsided, a new Perillo Park was revealed, with a new, safe playground, family member seating, shade structures, and spaces for playground game play.
As the day wrapped, neighbors and friends joined the block party atmosphere for a ribbon cutting ceremony where they heard from those involved with the project just how impactful the experience had been for volunteers and community members.
“Target® has done 175 of these so far, just such an incredible partnership with KaBOOM,” said Mike Quinn, Store Team Leader for Target on State Street in Chicago. “This is by far my absolute favorite because of the community involvement and just the passion within Blue Island, it’s just breathtaking, so thank you guys, so proud of this community; just excited and honored to be a small part of it with what we put down in this park today.”
Blue Island Park District Executive Director Tom Wogan echoed Quinn’s enthusiasm, and thanked those who made the project possible. “On behalf of everyone in Blue Island who is going to enjoy this park, thank you to Target, thank you to all our community members, thank you to our Board of Commissioners for their leadership,” said Wogan. “This was just an excellent team building experience, and if this is your first time to Blue Island, we hope you come back soon. Thank you everyone for this park!”
The final design for Perillo Park was formulated from input from more than 70 Blue Island children and residents, and is one of more than 3000 new playgrounds built in partnership with KaBOOM nationwide since 1996.
