Comprehensive Plan Approved by the Board of Commissioners

BerryDunn, a consulting firm specialized in parks, recreation and libraries, was retained in Spring 2022 to assist the District with the completion of the 2024 Comprehensive Plan. The plan was presented and approved by the Board of Commissioners on October 3, 2023. This broad-based planning tool guides the future of parks, facilities, and recreation programs and provides direction to the District for the next 5 years. 

The goals of the Park and Recreation Comprehensive Plan are to:

• Assist the Park District in determining and prioritizing where to invest resources with regard to recreation services, maintaining current facilities, and park improvements.
• Assist the Park District in determining best land use and land management practices.
• Assist the Park District in determining what recreation programs and services should be offered and evaluating those that should be discontinued.
• Evaluate the Park District’s current open space, indoor recreation space, and recreation services compared to community needs and current standards and trends.
• Provide guidelines for future planning.

Community Survey

The Wheeling Park District contracted aQity Research & Insights to conduct a Community Survey which was designed to obtain anonymous and statistically valid results from households within Wheeling Park District boundaries.  aQity Research staff worked extensively with Wheeling Park District to develop the survey questionnaire. The survey—administered from early January 2023 to early March 2023—received 400 responses and was offered online, by mail, or by phone in both English and Spanish. This report is just one of several components utilized to complete the Wheeling Park District’s Comprehensive Plan. 

aQity Research & Insights is a full-service survey and market research firm located in Evanston that specializes in providing in-depth qualitative and quantitative research and analysis to help agencies make informed decisions.