O’Fallon, IL. is recognized throughout the Midwest for its parks and recreation facilities and programming. Thousands of O’Fallon residents and visitors play on our state-of-the-art baseball and soccer fields at the Family Sports Park every week. The Sports Park has become an economic engine – creating investment and business success by attracting people to our hotels, restaurants and shops.

In addition to an economic catalyst, O’Fallon’s Parks and Recreation system also provides a much needed service to the residents of O’Fallon. O’Fallon offers recreational programming and available facilities year-round. The list of available programs, classes and facilities for rent is so comprehensive, it could take up this entire column. So, I invite you go visit the Parks and Recreation website at http://ofallonparksandrec.com/ to view what is available. This website is a “one-stop shop” where you can view available programs and facilities and sign up for any that catch your attention. There are programs for everyone, from the very young to our senior citizens.

O’Fallon is lucky to have high quality facilities that our residents can use. We owe this primarily to the very good job performed by our Parks and Recreation Department, with assistance from the O’Fallon Garden Club, O’Fallon Rotary, other volunteers and support from other city departments.

Recently, the Metro East Parks and Recreation District published its 2018 report that rated the areas’ best parks, sidewalks, trails and park paths. In their ratings, O’Fallon performed very well. O’Fallon was listed in the Top 10 for: number of parks, park acreage, miles of sidewalks, miles of bike trails and miles of park paths.

We were very happy to see that O’Fallon ranked No. 1 in Madison and St. Clair counties in both miles of sidewalks and miles of park paths.

Many would be satisfied with stopping there. But, the city of O’Fallon does not stand still. We continue to add new programming and amenities. And soon, we will be adding a new event space in downtown O’Fallon – O’Fallon Station, opening this fall.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.