Southwind Park

Community Teamwork: A National Model Park

Eighty acres of land has been donated to the Springfield Parks Foundation by a local Springfield family. The plan is to develop the land into a park which promotes green space and will be used for recreation programs to benefit residents of the community.

This generous donation has lead to the development of the Edwin Watts Southwind Park, with the combined efforts and resources of the Springfield Parks Foundation and the Springfield Park District.

Halverson Construction Co., Inc. is proud to be a part of the team that is building Southwind Park. If you would like to learn more about the Southwind Park Project, please visit Springfield Park District.

Click picture for close up view

Southwind Park: Development Plan For the last century, the donated land was used as farmland.  The property is located south of Springfield, where the city’s growth is currently focused — within easy access of Interstate 55.  It is just north of the neighboring city of Chatham, and south of an established residential subdivision. It is also near the University of Illinois — Springfield, and Lincoln Land Community College.

A National Model The park will serve as a national model, and will provide a new dimension for inclusion of all people "without boundaries", in full compliance with the American Disabilities Act. The multi- use park will provide year-round indoor and outdoor fun, education and recreation programs, set among beautiful natural habitats and wide open green space, with unique water features and cutting- edge recreational facilities.

Complete Accessibility One of the Southwind Parks most compelling features is its complete accessibility for all ages and abilities with special emphasis and attention given to individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.  The pavilion and the recreation center will be designed to accommodate the needs of individuals with all levels of disabilities and abilities!  These facilities will allow the Park District to expand its recreation department to include a newly formed Special Recreation Association and broaden recreational programs and events.  In addition, the facilities and park expands the venues available in our community to develop and implement new and varied programming and services in collaboration with local organizations serving special needs individuals such as UCP, SPARC, and the Lincoln Land Down Syndrome to new a few.  The recreation center features three indoor swimming pools and an indoor soccer field.  The swimming pools will include an olympic size pool serving our five local high schools, three colleges and expand our current limited open swim and learn to swim lesson programs.  Two additional pools will accommodate rehabilitation programs in conjunction with local rehabilitation professional services and organizations.  The last indoor swimming pool built in Springfield was over forty years ago, and remains the only indoor olympic pool!  With the continued growth of the local youth and adult soccer programs and only one indoor soccer facility in our city, the demand for an indoor soccer field is evident!

Park Features The outdoor park includes: a lake with accessible fishing piers and a gazebo; 2 1/2 miles of wide paved urban pathways; an outdoor amphitheatre; picnic shelters; playgrounds with specialized playground equipment; bocce ball and shuffleboard courts; horseshoe pits; picnic shelters; and four sensory gardens. This park is unique in that it is an all-people park, serving cognitive, emotional, physical and social needs in a diverse, safe and fun setting — without physical and social barriers — embracing and encouraging inclusion of activities and leisure time for everyone, together.

Groundbreaking The groundbreaking for the park began November, 2006.  With the donation of time and materials from Halverson Construction, Roland Machinery, and Operating Engineers Local Union No. 965, AFL-CIO, the excavating and infrastructure for the park will soon be complete. Halverson Construction is pleased to be a partner in the development of the new park, by providing our professional expertise and services in overseeing the early stages of the infrastructure.

Community Benefits Our community will benefit from the new programs, services and open space that this park will provide. The park will be funded and built with private donations, corporate sponsors, grants and cooperative partnerships to include donations of time and materials from our local professional resources. Halverson Construction is dedicated to be a part of improving and enhancing our community for the well being of our residents and visitors.