Which will Pingree Grove get first, an ice rink off Wester Boulevard or a Jewel-Osco at Routes 47 and 72? A year ago most people would have picked the grocery store. The village's own 2025 State of the Village presentation hoped the Route 47 and 72 commercial project would be finished by fall 2026. Fall 2026 is here. No ground has broken at that corner. Village staff now tentatively expect ice rink installation at the skate park in late November.
That gap follows a pattern you can see across this winter's projects. The village is building the skate park on village land with a state grant, and it's close to done. The Jewel needs a grocery chain, a developer, IDOT and state environmental sign-off to line up, and it has collected approvals without a start date.
The Skate Park Is About to Become a Whole Park
Residents got their first look in August 2025, when the village held an open house to collect feedback on proposed plans for the skate park. In January 2026 the village announced that the state had picked Pingree Grove for a $600,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant, known as OSLAD, to upgrade the site. That year's OSLAD round gave $36 million to 67 communities statewide, as the Daily Herald reported in a village-submitted announcement.
According to that announcement, the planned additions are:
- A picnic shelter with built-in grills
- A basketball court
- Three pickleball courts
- An accessible zip track
- Gaga Ball
- Bags and ladder ball areas
- An interactive ball wall
- A seasonal ice rink
At its February 17 meeting, the Village Board approved buying the pavilion, zip track, interactive ball wall, ice rink and lighting fixtures directly, according to the village's winter 2026 newsletter. By the October 5 board meeting, staff reported that the courts and their acrylic surfacing were finished.
The draft minutes of that October 5 meeting appear in the Village Board's October 19 packet and lay out the order of the remaining work. The skate park lighting had arrived and electrical installation was starting. The pavilion roof and site restoration come after that, and Village Manager Andy Ferrini expected the park to be about 90 percent complete once the electrical work was done.
| Milestone | When | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Public open house on proposed plans | August 2025 | Held |
| $600,000 OSLAD grant announced | January 2026 | Awarded |
| Board approves pavilion, zip track, ball wall, rink and lighting purchases | February 17, 2026 | Approved |
| Courts finished, lighting received, electrical installation starting | October 5, 2026 | Reported by staff |
| Ice rink installation | Late November 2026 | Tentative |
The village hasn't announced rink hours, an opening day or a ribbon cutting. The village website, the village Facebook page and the MyPingreeGrove app are where the village tells residents to look for updates.
Two Parks Waiting on Names
The skate park is one of several small parks scattered through the village. A village page that lists HOA contacts places it "off of Wester Blvd." That same page lists a pocket park behind the Community Center, another by the Charter School, and Heritage Park on Reinking Road next to the Milk Pail.
Two of those spaces are about to get names. At the October 5 meeting, the manager asked for naming ideas for both the skate park and the fire station park. The plan is to turn those ideas into options for a public survey. The survey itself hasn't been released.
The fire station park is getting work too. Public works staff described plans to install lighting there and talked about upcoming tree plantings. The department was also applying for a $2,000 community garden grant. All of these are small, village-run projects, and village staff report on them directly at board meetings. The commercial projects don't have that kind of control.
The Grocery Store Has Its Votes and a Lease, but No Start Date
The Jewel-Osco has cleared every local hurdle. On August 17, 2026, the Planning and Zoning Commission held its public hearing. No one from the public commented, and the commission voted 7-0 to recommend the project. The Village Board met the same night. According to the board minutes, trustees voted 6-0 three times. They approved the development agreement with TD Pingree Grove LLC, the special use permit and final plan, and the plat that splits the 15.25-acre site into seven lots.
Developers Troutman and Dams presented more than a grocery store. Their plans showed the Jewel-Osco with a pharmacy and a Starbucks. Possible tenants for the outlots included McDonald's, Taco Bell, a small grocery store, a bank, a dental office, AutoZone and multi-tenant shop space. Apart from Jewel and its in-store Starbucks, those names were presented as possible tenants, not signed ones. The planning commission's review noted that trucks would enter and leave from Route 47 and turn around on site, with buffering for nearby homes.
The timeline is where things get uncertain. The developers projected construction would start in late September or October 2026, with a grand opening in the fourth quarter of 2027. They estimated construction at about nine to ten months, including winter. They also listed the items that could cause delays: temporary construction access from IDOT, IEPA sign-off, recording the plat, and signing the Jewel lease.
The lease item got checked off quickly. At the September 8 board meeting, Village President Kubiak said Jewel had signed a 50-year lease. Staff said they were still working with IDOT, the developer and others on permits and land conveyance, and they expected groundbreaking that year. The minutes of the October 5 meeting were less definite:
"President Kubiak reported... that discussions regarding Reinking Road and Route 72 were continuing, that Albertsons had not established a groundbreaking date."
By this week, the late September and October start window the developers named in August is closing, and no new date has been posted. The fourth-quarter 2027 opening was based on a fall 2026 start. A store that takes nine or ten months to build can't hold that projection forever without a shovel in the ground. The 2025 village presentation described a 65,000-square-foot Jewel-Osco with six outlots. The plan approved in August has seven lots. The plan has moved forward, and the calendar has slipped by about a year.
Monday Night, Route 72's Other Corner Gets Its Hearing
Farther along Route 72, a second commercial proposal reaches its public hearing on Monday, November 2, at 6 p.m. at the Pingree Grove Municipal Center, 555 Reinking Road. The Planning and Zoning Commission will consider SMVA Realty Group's request to build a planned development on 12.6 acres at the southwest corner of Route 72 and Reinking Road. Phase one would include a restaurant with outdoor seating in the evening, from 6 to 10 p.m., and up to one bar.
The hearing notice ran in the Daily Herald on October 15. It says the petition and the phase-one plans are on file at the Village Clerk's Office during regular business hours. Anyone interested can attend and speak. The notice doesn't name a restaurant. It also says the new approval would replace Ordinance No. 2008-26, which means this corner already had approved plans nearly two decades ago.
Even the paths along Route 72 have long timelines. In September the village approved $248,564 for phase-two engineering of a Route 72 multi-use path. It expects an IDOT grant to cover about $193,000 of that, and construction is likely in 2028, depending on property acquisition and permits. The village's roundabout project at Reinking and Damisch would add sidewalks and a multi-use path across the CPKC tracks. The village's bid page targets construction in 2027 and completion before the end of that year. The president's report in the October 5 minutes also mentioned that the National Cricket League had shown interest in a possible stadium site in the village. That item went no further than an invitation for trustees to share their feedback.
Between Now and Thanksgiving, Date by Date
Not all of it is years away. Here is what's on the calendar over the next month:
- Saturday, October 31, 4 to 8 p.m. Village trick-or-treat hours.
- Monday, November 2, 6 p.m. The public hearing on SMVA Realty Group's proposal for Route 72 and Reinking, at the Municipal Center.
- Friday, November 20. The revised target for substantial completion of the wastewater treatment plant. It moved from September 6 after equipment delays and a phased startup. Staff said they didn't expect it to slip past that date.
- Late November. The ice rink is tentatively due to be installed at the skate park off Wester Boulevard.
And if you want something new in the village that's already open, Cottage Sweets at 40W885 Railroad Street held its grand opening in January after a soft opening.
If you're wondering where your home stands while the Jewel site, the Reinking Road corner and the skate park take shape, the bilingual team at Zamudio Realty Group follows these village board updates so you don't have to. Get your free home valuation, in English or Spanish, whenever you're ready.
