The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has announced that several small communities in the region have received grants for parks and recreation projects.
Nearly $55 million in state grants are being awarded for 111 local park projects throughout the state.
The Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) program helps municipalities acquire land and develop recreational opportunities or improve current amenities that already exist.
In the listening area, the Villages of Kampsville, Rockbridge, Modesto, and Perry have been awarded the maximum grant amount of $600,000 each for projects. All four villages were designated as being economically distressed. Governor J.B. Pritzker says he specificially set aside $18.7 million in this round of grant funding for the OSLAD program to award money directly to communities under that designation.
Specific improvements for Rockbridge’s community park can be found on this link.
With the economically distressed tag, the municipalities will not have to provide any percentage of match to the grant funds to complete their projects.