Photo by Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
A look into the past – New signage at Electric Park gives visitors a look into the history of the park, and how it served the village in the early 1900s.
By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Visitors taking a stroll through Plainfield’s riverfront pathway will have an opportunity to learn a little bit about the area while out for a walk.
Earlier this month, representatives from the Plainfield Riverfront Foundation unveiled a new sign for the park, which is designed to educate the public as they are out and about in the village.
“It’s our first interpretive signage for the Riverfront Park,” said Rob Epley, Executive Director of the Plainfield Riverfront Foundation. “This is a signage that will go on Lockport Street, as you’re looking south directly toward the Riverfront Park down the river.”
The new sign will give visitors a visual of what the park looked like from 1902 to 1924, when the riverfront was part of a destination that included camping and a skating rink.
“This is the first sign that we’re unveiling,” Epley said. “The intent would be, along the riverfront path on the riverfront property, to have little smaller signage which would give you an idea of where the water slide was, where the canoe launch was, where the auditorium and dance hall was. So, we’re proud to unveil this.”
The new signage was an idea brought to the foundation by member and board member Nicki Alander, who has been working with the board and other area preservation foundations on the plans to add the informative signs to the path.
The sign is designed to be weather proof, and easily cleaned in the case there is any vandalism.
Use of the land riverfront’s 50-plus acres as recreational land dates to the early 1900s. The park served as “Electric Park” for several decades, where electric trains brought visitors to Plainfield as a recreation and camping destination.
That site hosted an entertainment center and roller skating rink. The building that housed the rink was destroyed by the tornado in 1990.
The current Riverfront Foundation building and educational center was once the lab building for the village’s wastewater treatment plant. That building now includes an education center.
The Riverfront Foundation was formed back in 2009 to raise funds to revitalize the riverfront, as part of Plainfield’s 2007 master plan. The land along the river is owned by the village.
The foundation has worked on multiple beautification projects, including lighting projects and marketing the village’s waterway.