Lake Forest highlights Deerpath Park technology: fiber backbone, public Wi‑Fi and live sports streams

Jim Shaw, the city’s director of innovation and technology, presented a high‑level overview of the technology installed at the new Deerpath Community Park during the Lake Forest City Council meeting on May 6.

Shaw said the park has a fiber backbone connected to the city and recreation networks and the internet, and a Wi‑Fi system rated to support up to 800 concurrent users at 1 gigabit. "It's free of charge. Anyone can use it," Shaw said, describing a guest login labeled "l f guest." He told council the network supports both internal systems and resident access.

Shaw described on‑site digital information boards at the north and south pavilions that now display maps and schedules and can carry city announcements or future advertising. He said the city deployed approximately six Verkada security cameras across the park; the system retains 30 days of video and can search footage by clothing color or objects such as backpacks and bicycles.

The presentation emphasized automated sports cameras that record and livestream games without manual operation. "They turn themselves on, record the game and broadcast the game, [and] turn themselves off," Shaw said, noting the city expanded the program at Deerpath with eight systems (four for baseball, four for field sports). He said early field‑sport livestreams typically attract 100 to 200 views per game and that one March match recorded 265 views from 61 unique devices, including an international viewer in Germany. Families can download game clips and create highlights from footage retained for 30 days.

Shaw also said the city installed a community camera aimed at the park that residents can access via an app; the system mirrors other park cameras the city has used to show beach and waterfront conditions. He described ongoing talks with potential concessions providers about mobile ordering and delivery and said the technology platform is intended to support future enhancements, such as video analysis tools for coaching and automated attendance metrics.

A council member praised the work, saying the team had "exceeded our expectations" in delivering the park and its technology. Council members asked about signage and outreach; Shaw said new signs were installed the prior week and expected to raise awareness of the livestreamed games.

The demonstration concluded with the city manager thanking Shaw and staff for the project planning and execution.

The city listed the livestream site as watchlfsports.com and said the park systems are reachable via a dedicated app.