COURTESY OF MATT BARON
It’s always great to be associated with a winner, and McAdam Landscaping of Forest Park recently aligned itself with one of the most publicly successful unveilings of 2014: the newly renovated Ridgeland Common Recreation Complex at 415 W. Lake St. in Oak Park.
The family-owned company’s connection to the Park District of Oak Park facility will be on display for the public to at least the next three years. For that span, McAdam purchased the rights to a dasherboard advertisement located on the perimeter of the Paul Hruby Ice Arena rink.
The colorful graphic, banner-sized at 2 1/2 feet high and 7 1/2 feet wide, communicates McAdam’s support for the Park District, provides contact information, including McAdam’s website atwww.mcadamlandscape.com, and notes the company’s 1979 roots.
At McAdam’s inception, brothers Scott and Rob McAdam operated the business out of their childhood home in River Forest. They have long since moved out and grown the company into a perennial standout as one of the region’s most respected names in landscaping. Scott is president, Rob is vice president and Scott’s son, Scott Jr., is the company’s commercial account manager, vice president of snow operations and horticulturist.
McAdam’s pillars are service, professionalism, loyalty and community.
“From the start, we have been committed to giving back to many groups in and around Oak Park,” said Scott McAdam. “In the park district and the ice arena, we are glad to partner with another great Oak Park institution.”
Amid an increasingly crowded and competitive industry, the company has diversified its services. With the creation of the Nursery & Garden Center in 2003, McAdam has moved beyond maintenance and design/installation and into other specialties such as landscape lighting and water features.
As for the dasherboard ad program, the park district has attracted interest from a variety of other local businesses and organizations whose ads are likewise on display around the rink. To the left of the McAdam ad is a banner for the Chicago Blackhawks, which notes the club’s Stanley Cup championship seasons.
The ads are secured by a protective Lexan covering, specially designed to limit damage from ice skates, pucks and sports equipment. In addition, dasherboard advertisers receive a complimentary advertisement in the Spring 2015 Ice Show Program Book. The Printing Store, an Oak Park-based shop, designed the McAdam ad and the park district arranged for its placement.
According to park district marketing materials, the arena draws a large, diverse audience from throughout the Chicago area that will grow with the addition of year-round ice at the facility. Anticipated attendance at the newly renovated ice arena is more than 150,000 visits annually.
In mid-June, the $22 million complex was opened after a 13-month renovation process.
The Park District of Oak Park is online at www.pdop.org. To learn more about the dasherboard ad program or other partnership opportunities with the Park District of Oak Park, please contact Diane Stanke at 708-725-2022.
