For the second straight year, the Plainfield Park District was chosen the BEST park district in the 2024 Herald-News Best of Will County Readers’ Choice Awards.
The Park District will be honored at the Best of Will County Readers’ Choice Winners Celebration scheduled for December 9 at the Jacob Henry Mansion in Joliet.
Founded in 1966, the Plainfield Park District is the 9th largest park district in the State of Illinois, serving over 110,000 residents in Will and Kendall counties including the areas of Plainfield, Joliet, Romeoville, Crest Hill and Bolingbrook.
In 2024, the District earned its second National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management as selected by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).
The District also was recognized as an Illinois Distinguished Accredited Agency in early 2024 for excellence in delivering parks and recreation services. The accreditation is a rigorous evaluation process by a joint committee of park and recreation professionals and elected officials and includes having to meet various standards and criteria in providing exceptional park and recreation services to the community.
In 2022, the District joined the ranks of elite park and recreation agencies across the country by earning accreditation through the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) and the NRPA. CAPRA accreditation is the only national accreditation for park and recreation agencies and is a measure of an agency’s overall quality of operation, management and service to the community.