By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

After a weekend conference in Chicago, Pontiac Parks and Recreation came back with an award and grant money in excess of $67,000.

Director Taylor Baxter said the annual conference with the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association and Illinois Association of Park Districts gave away several awards this weekend and the one Pontiac won was for the Central Division for Inclusive Playgrounds.

“We’re really wanting to make sure everyone can play on it. So there’s different features for all ability levels, different access points. When you think of inclusive, you think of being able to be used by everybody, so whether that’s an open ramp or different types of features on the playground, it’s all going to be done in the springtime, along with the splash pad, so if you’re curious about what’s going on with it, we’re trying to include everybody,” Baxter said.

Baxter said it was exciting to walk away with the win.

“It was so great. This conference – they held it at the annual business conference, so there was hundreds of professionals all across the state of Illinois and it was very gratifying to see the City of Pontiac and our parks and recreation logo go across that slide and the executive director calling out our names, saying we were awarded this award, it made us feel really, really good. Pontiac should be very proud of the planning former director Jerry Hayner did with this. It’s very well-deserving and we couldn’t be prouder,” Baxter said.

To view the plans for the Humiston-Riverside Park, with completion planned for spring, visit them at 900 N. Elm Street in Pontiac.