Work to alleviate flooding in the village of Homer Glen’s Heritage Park is expected to be completed in the fall.

The Village Board on Wednesday approved the nearly $1.2 million project, with part of the funding coming via a $521,704 grant from the Clean Water Act as administered through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Rockdale-based Alessio & Sons Company submitted the low bid to perform the work, which will begin shortly and be completed by Sept. 30, village officials said. The bid came in about $300,000 under the amount budgeted for the project.

The village wants to expand two existing ponds in Heritage Park, which formerly was the Woodbine Golf Course, into two larger wetland areas that would total about 26.7 acres. A 950-long bioswale, which would feature native vegetation and wetland plantings to retain and filter rainwater, also will be installed, said Michael Salamowicz, the village’s development services director.

The work to enlarge the ponds within Heritage Park is one remedy for the area’s flooding issues, officials said, but they aren’t focusing just on that project.

The village also has a contract with Patnick Construction Inc. to increase the size of the storm sewer system in the Woodbine subdivision, which is adjacent to the park and will help homeowners there with their flooding problems, officials said.

They said part of the storm sewer system in the Woodbine subdivision is undersized and cannot effectively move stormwater from the subdivision to the existing detention pond in Culver Park.

Larger storm sewers will be built along Eagle Ridge Drive, between Cantigny and Greenbrier lanes, and improvements will be done in Culver Park so Arboretum Drive will not flood, officials said. That project is nearly completed.

Future improvements at Heritage Park, which is behind Village Hall, 14240 W. 151st St., will include new amenities, such as tennis, bocce ball, pickleball and sand volleyball courts, a sensory garden, a challenge course, a children’s playground, a sledding hill and a disc golf course.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.