For years, runners, hikers, cyclists, and inline skaters have envisioned the weed-choked, abandoned Canadian Pacific railway right-of-way above Bloomingdale Avenue as an elevated "rail trail." In the summer of 2006, TPL took the first steps toward making the three-mile Bloomingdale Trail a reality with the purchase of a "pocket park" between Albany and Whipple avenues.

"It's the whole 'big project-little project' aspect of this work that makes it pretty remarkable," said Jeffrey Greenspan, senior project manager with TPL's Chicago Area Office.

TPL's Chicago Area Office sees it as a big project that can be done pragmatically, one step at a time. So when the grassroots group Friends of Bloomingdale Trail approached TPL about this strategic half-acre, TPL took a step.

"The Albany-Whipple site will be a boost to the future Bloomingdale Trail, but it's also vital to give kids a place to play sooner than later," said Beth White, director of TPL's Chicago Area Office.

The Albany-Whipple site is on a fast track for development. When complete it will serve as a park for 4,300 children under the age of 10 and provide an important access point to the future Bloomingdale Trail.