Robbins Park's Treehouse Is Open, and Dietz Park Is Now Hinsdale's Oldest Playground

"We officially have the playground now open for the Village of Hinsdale, so please enjoy," Trustee Michelle Fisher said during trustee comments at the October 20, 2026 village board meeting, a few hours after the Robbins Park Treehouse Playground was dedicated to Stewart Mohr Mather. One of her colleagues said the turnout "filled the whole parking lot." Fisher said the Hinsdale Fire Department bringing its trucks had the kids "on cloud nine."

That opening also changed something smaller on the village's park list. When planning started, the Robbins playground, built in 2002, was Hinsdale's oldest. That title now goes to Dietz Park at Seventh and Adams, where the equipment dates to 2005. Dietz is already funded and scheduled. Across the village's park projects this fall, though, the slowest work has been underground, in drain tile and stormwater pipe that nobody climbs on.

What went up at Seventh and Vine

The Mather family asked for a treehouse theme. Stewart Mather was born in Hinsdale in 1978. The design proposed in 2025, as The Hinsdalean reported, called for these features:

• A main structure for kids ages 5 to 12, built from black locust logs chosen for strength and durability
• Rope bridges and two slides
• A 50-foot zip line
• A vine tunnel at the entrance, about 8 feet high and 5 feet wide, lined with flowering vines
• The existing swing set, kept in place

Fisher told the board at the time that the tunnel would give the playground "a magical feel as you walk in." The new playground kept the old footprint, so the plans never needed Plan Commission review. That kept the approval path short.

The money also tells the story. In September 2025 the project was estimated at $323,146. The village had already set aside $180,000 in its capital plan to replace the playground, and the Mather Giving Foundation Donor Advised Fund pledged $200,000. The village's project page now lists a $380,000 total, with the village still putting in $180,000. Upland Design Ltd. of Plainfield handled final design and construction, along with new landscaping around the play area.

Construction started July 29, 2026, with a target finish of September 30. In mid-September, Fisher reported that several pieces were in and the treehouse itself was going up, with work expected to wrap by the first week of October. On October 6 she told trustees construction was "progressing well," and two weeks later the park was open.

The first big Robbins Park morning is Sunday

The playground is one piece of a busy park. The village lists a football and soccer field, two tennis courts, three baseball fields, and a basketball court at Robbins Park.

This Sunday, November 1, the Love Like Sean Family Run uses the park as its base, according to The Hinsdalean's community calendar. Registration opens at 7:30 a.m., the 5K starts at 9 a.m., and the Kids Dash follows at 10 a.m. It will be the first race morning with the new treehouse open next to the start area. Families with younger runners will have something to do in the hour between the two races.

Dietz Park is next, and most of its budget goes into the ground

With Robbins finished, Dietz Park's 2005 playground is the oldest in the village's system and the next one scheduled for replacement. Trustee Fisher told the board on October 6 that the 2005 playground "is the oldest in the Village and is due for replacement," and that the new "ninja adventure-style" design will serve children ages 3 to 12. On October 6, trustees voted unanimously to spend up to $194,176 there, under the $200,000 budget. The new equipment includes climbing features, bridges, side-by-side slides, and a saucer swing.

The line items reported by The Hinsdalean show where the money goes:

The line items are rounded to the dollar. The village minutes put the exact total at $194,175.69.

Taking out the old equipment, installing the new set, and laying drain tile costs about $17,000 more than the equipment itself. The vendor is Playcore Wisconsin, Inc., doing business as GameTime, working through Cunningham Recreation of Charlotte, North Carolina. The approved scope pairs drainage improvements with new wood-fiber safety surfacing. Installation is set for early 2027, with completion expected by spring 2027.

At Burlington Park, a buried culvert set the schedule

The Burlington Park pavilion shows most clearly how much the ground decides. Trustees hired Dave Knecht Homes in July to build the permanent pavilion on the park's west end as part of the village's America 250 celebration. The $526,000 project is entirely privately funded. UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale gave $175,000 and the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce gave $100,000. The Hinsdale Journal reported an $85,296 in-kind contribution from Dave Knecht Homes, pro bono design work by Michael Abraham, and James Bouchard among the major donors.

During excavation in September, the contractor ran into a stormwater culvert. Village President Greg Hart told The Hinsdalean that officials knew the culvert existed and that it runs west beyond Washington Street. "The exact location of the culvert is what was a little bit of a surprise," he said. "It's been there for a while. It's quite large." He also told the paper, "Whenever you dig in Hinsdale, there might be some surprise."

The early options were to move the pavilion closer to the sidewalk or to build over the culvert with a steel beam or a similar fix. Hart preferred keeping the original spot and put the added cost at $15,000 or more. He said he would make phone calls to raise that difference privately so no taxpayer dollars would be used. At the October 6 meeting, Trustee Luke Stifflear said one option under review would shift the pavilion farther west and that he had questions about it. Trustee Neale Byrnes supported holding the item for more review.

By October 20 the plan had narrowed. Hart told the board that staff, the project architect, and a structural engineer had developed a design to build over the existing utility. That design keeps the pavilion in its originally approved location, and the contractor was preparing a cost estimate expected later that week. The goal is still to have the pavilion ready for the 2027 Uniquely Thursdays concert series.

Water is shaping street work this month too. On October 20, trustees hired HR Green for $34,450 to study drainage on South Garfield Street. The intersection of Garfield and 56th Street has been holding water when the storm sewer is full.

The park calendar from here to spring

1. Sunday, November 1: Love Like Sean Family Run at Robbins Park. Registration at 7:30 a.m., 5K at 9 a.m., Kids Dash at 10 a.m.
2. Late October: The contractor's cost estimate for building the Burlington Park pavilion over the culvert was expected the week of October 20.
3. Saturday, December 12: Hinsdale for the Holidays at Burlington Park, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with gingerbread decorating, horse-drawn carriage rides, and Santa.
4. Early 2027: GameTime equipment installation at Dietz Park, with drainage and wood-fiber surfacing, targeted for completion by spring.
5. Summer 2027: Target for the Burlington Park pavilion to host Uniquely Thursdays.

For now, Robbins Park has the village's newest playground, and the swing set kept from the 2002 version is the only original piece left.

The neighborhood specialists at Second City Agents follow Hinsdale's park projects through every board vote, from the Robbins treehouse to next spring's work at Dietz Park. If you want to know how they connect to a block you're watching, schedule a free market consultation.