In the heart of downtown Northbrook, Village Green Park offers an award winning baseball diamond, seasonal soccer field, picnic areas, playground, paths, an old-fashioned gazebo and lush greenery. The park is also home to the Village Green Center, which houses a Registration Office and Athletics and Aquatics Department offices. The playground offers slides, ramps, tunnels, bridges, swings and sand. Village Green Park is home to baseball, shaded walking paths, Tuesdays in the Park Concerts and several community-wide special events each year. Its central location makes the park a popular gathering place.

Behind the baseball diamond, a pavilion houses concessions, vending machines, restrooms and park storage areas. A State of Illinois grant provided funding for the pavilion. At the corner of Meadow and Shermer Roads, the Centennial Plaza commemorates Northbrook’s 100th birthday and welcomes visitors to the park.

In 2016, the District redesigned Memorial Garden, an area on the northeast corner of Village Green Park, as a way to celebrate the District’s 90th anniversary in 2017. The new layout includes significant landscaping, pathway improvements, several new trees including Japanese Lilac and Whitespire Birch, and two new benches. Memorial Garden is a tribute to all the Northbrook men and women who have served in the Armed Forces. It was originally dedicated on October 15, 1972 in partnership with the Northbrook Garden Club.

History

On August 3, 1944, voters approved a Park District referendum to purchase 10 acres, formerly known as Barrenscheen’s Grove. With the help of Girl Scout leaders, a group of adults formed the Youth Center Association and began a campaign to raise funds for a recreation center. The group raised $10,000, but final costs reached $14,000. Civic groups contributed the balance. A Youth Center was built in 1947 with donations of labor and materials, becoming the first significant building in Northbrook constructed after World War ll. After a formal dedication on September 7, 1947, Village officials transferred ownership of the Center to the Park District, and teens held recreational programs in the building. Eventually, the building was modified to hold registration offices, and in the 1970s it housed a Senior Center. Another renovation in the late 1990s allowed for increasing registration, the addition of the Athletics and Aquatics Department and a community room. A gazebo was added to the park in 1988. The playground has been renovated several times.