and class or meeting space, and an outdoor amphitheater for gatherings. Depending on the arrangement of the table layout, between 250 and 320 can be seated in the hall. Information and costs for renting the facility can be found online. You can watch the kids engaged in water play in the O’Day Creek Experience Area, take a lunch break at a picnic table, or let your teens meet for some social time in the Teen Overlook. At the amphitheater, gather on the hillside below O’Day Lodge to listen to free concerts, watch educational and theater performances, and experience other new and interesting outdoor events. Funding for O’Day Park was approved by O’Fallon voters in 2016 through the passage of a bond issue. The O’Day Park project team consisted of Mayor Bill Hennessy, the O’Fallon City Council, the Parks and Recreation and Engineering Departments, SWT Design, and Navigate Building Solutions. O’Day Park opened to the public on April 27, 2019. “This could not have happened without support,” Drabelle said. “Our community was behind us and we felt a real responsibility to create something that
10 | CROSSROADS | SEPTEMBER 2020
