Awards and Accomplishments

Bolingbrook Park District is recognized as an Illinois Distinguished Accredited Agency by the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) and the Illinois Park and Recreation Association (IPRA).

The two statewide associations administer the Illinois Distinguished Accreditation program with the goal of improving the delivery of park and recreation services to Illinois residents. “Illinois has a reputation for the best park districts, forest preserves, conservation, recreation and special recreation agencies in the nation,” said Peter Murphy, IAPD President and CEO. “The Illinois Distinguished Accreditation program provides an opportunity for these agencies to undergo a voluntary, comprehensive evaluation process to demonstrate that they have met state guidelines to provide exceptional park and recreation services to their community. The end result is to improve the quality of life for Illinois residents.”

“This program gives recognition to park and recreation agencies that go above and beyond in dedicating themselves to offering quality programs and services designed to fulfill their community’s needs,” said Debbie Trueblood, IPRA Executive Director.

Bolingbrook Park District has been recognized with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the past 22 consecutive years. This award is given to local governments who go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles and prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure ensuring the users of the financial statements have the information they need to assess the financial health of their government.

The staff at Pelican Harbor Aquatic Park received a 5-star overall rating on their audit of lifeguard and facility operations three times in 2020 and once in 2021 so far. This is the highest possible rating that can be achieved through the Starguard ELITE Aquatic Risk Prevention Audit. The way an audit works is that an auditor from Starguard ELITE comes to Pelican Harbor Aquatic Park unannounced. They secretly film a handful of lifeguards and review their performance based on positioning, scanning the pool, that they’re easily identifiable, their equipment is ready, have appropriate sun/environmental protection and lifeguard rotation.

After the lifeguard evaluation is complete, the auditor enters the break room and introduces themselves to the lifeguard that are on break. They then test those lifeguards in a series of skills and scenarios that include:

In all of these areas, the staff at Pelican Harbor received a 5-star rating. Additionally, the team got a 5-star rating for having the correct and current documentation, supervisor observation, and physical facility observation, which included things like cleanliness, having proper supplies, signage, manager was visible and communication devices.

Bolingbrook Park District has been recognized as a 2020 Apex Award of Excellence Winner in the Social Media-Facebook Sites category.  The APEX Awards are based on graphic design, editorial content, and the ability to achieve overall communications excellence. This is the third time the district has received an Apex Award, the others awards came in the Website category in 2003 and 2014.

More than 1,200 entries were evaluated for consideration including websites, magazines, newsletters, annual reports, public relations and more. A total of 476 received an award in one of the 100 subcategories. The Apex Award selection committee stated that they were impressed with the high quality of the submissions.

The last time Bolingbrook Park District received a similar honor in 2014 for its redesigned website. The re-launch of the site included many significant upgrades, including improved search capabilities, integrated calendar/program listings, social media streams and user interface design standards consistent with Web 2.0 best practices.