As Year of the Park continues, we will be documenting every park in Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy, Champaign County Forest Preserves, along with other odds and ends between July 2020 and July 2021. You can see what has been covered thus far by clicking here. If you have suggestions or ideas or feedback, feel free to contact us at info@smilepolitely.com.
NAME
Wesley Park
LOCATION
915 N. Third St., Champaign
Photo by Anna Longworth.
HISTORY AND FEATURES
Wesley Park sits off Third St. and Illinois Central Railroad in north Champaign, just south of Bradley Avenue. According to ExploreCU, it was acquired in 1969 with a bond from 1966, and in the truest sense of the idea, it is very much a neighborhood park. It sits in the shadow of Douglass Park, which is the crown jewel of north side parks in Champaign, so it’s hard to truly know how much this park sees action versus its bigger, older sister park down the block.
There is a playground, with a swingset that seems like it was erected in the 1970s, which for me, is my type of thing. I love the yellow color!
Photo by Anna Longworth.
Beyond that there are basketball courts with new pavement for summer time ballin’ and that’s always a good thing for any park, as we know.
Photo by Anna Longworth.
ASSESSMENT
While there isn’t a lot of interesting features to Wesley Park, it serves its purpose well. There is a one quarter mile walking path named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inside of it, and that makes for a nice place to stroll on a good weather day.
Photo by Anna Longworth.
I also really like this train. My kids did too. There is something about trains in any capacity that seem to really hit the mark with me.