Hinsdale's oldest playground is getting replaced after the Village Board voted unanimously Tuesday, Oct. 6, to spend $194,176 on new equipment and installation at Dietz Park.
The 21-year-old playground, installed in 2005, is the oldest of the village's 11 playgrounds, The Hinsdalean reported. Trustees approved $84,342 for equipment from GameTime, $101,210 for removal, installation and drain tile work, and $8,623 for fiber mulching. The total came in under the $200,000 the village had budgeted.
The new playground will feature dueling slides, a caterpillar climber, climbing walls, a saucer swing and bongo drums. Trustee Michelle Fisher, describing the project at the board's Sept. 15 meeting, called it a blend of "traditional playground elements with more challenging ninja adventure-style features," Patch reported. Construction is expected to wrap up next spring.
The board also voted 6-0 to grant Class B4 and Class B6 liquor licenses to Toni Patisserie & Café at 51 S. Washington St. The B4 license allows packaged sales of wine, champagne and beer. The B6 license covers restaurant service at breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. The previous owners held a Class B1 license, which limited beer and wine to lunch and dinner hours only.
Three Hinsdale residents, Craig Zoberis, Mark Konieczka and Tom Wake, purchased the 32-year-old bakery in 2026 from founders Toni Cox and Paul Pell. Konieczka told The Hinsdalean on Thursday, Oct. 1, that the expanded license could open new options: "Perhaps there are bloody Marys in the future."
In other spending, trustees voted unanimously to buy winter de-icing salt from Morton Salt at a cost of $99,658 through the State of Illinois joint purchasing program.
Three more contracts won board support Tuesday but still need formal votes at the Oct. 20 meeting. Trustees backed a two-year extension with Christopher B. Burke Engineering (CBBEL) for development reviews, capped at $138,000. The village approved the same contract amount for 2025–2026 reviews in October 2024.
The board also agreed to spend up to $34,450 for HR Green to study drainage problems on South Garfield Avenue, where the intersection at 56th Street has been holding water when the storm sewer fills. As we reported Wednesday, Oct. 7, the study targets a persistent flooding trouble spot.
Trustees also supported hiring Layne Christensen Co. for $133,861 to decommission village well No. 10 and inspect and repair well No. 5. Both wells serve as backup if the village's Lake Michigan supply from the DuPage Water Commission (DWC) is interrupted.
Week ahead
The board's next meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall, 19 E. Chicago Ave. Formal votes on the CBBEL extension, the HR Green drainage study and the Layne Christensen well contract are all on the agenda. Public comment is available at the meeting.
