In 1997, the Park District received a donation of 10 acres of land from the James Company as part of the pre-annexation agreement for its North Shore Corporate Park. Working in conjunction with the Village of Glenview, a plan was developed to combine these 10 acres along Willow Road adjacent to James’ new Heatherfield development, a 3.2 acre parcel between the Sunset Village Manufactured Homes Community and the Techny Basin and the trails along the Techny Basis connecting the two pieces of land into a single park to be named West Fork Park. Funding for this park included a $125,000 Illinois First grant from the State of Illinois, a $400,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and a $137,959.40 cash donation from Heatherfield Ventures. Once this funding was obtained in 2001, construction on the park began in 2002 and the park was opened in 2003.