11. PRSR 03-10-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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HE SAME SPRAWI. THAT THREATENS open land around cities sometimes creates the economic opportunity m develop its recreational potential. Because booming housing and road conscruaio^ demand large yuanti ties oFsand and gravel, a working quarry in fringe suburbia can prove immensely profitable during decades of housing growth. Such quarries, when located on parkland, can finance park expansion and development. In the ^otthwestem Chicago suburbs, Lake County's Independence Grove For- est Preserve is an impressive model of a sand and gravel quarry reclaimed for recreation. Offering the beauty of old growth foresa as well as ntunerotts lake- oriented activities, this 1,100-acre park, now nearly complete after 20 years of planning and construction, exemplifies private/public sector eollaboraeion and signals the next generation of design in the Forest Preserves. The Foresr Preserves were first established throughout Illinois essentially as country park disrricts. In 1y0>, nan¢ulisr landscape atchirea Jens Jensen and architect Dwight Perkins es- tablished the Cook County system to pro- feet tloodplains and other natural features ringing Chicago. Today the Lake County Forest Preserves Disrricr has ?5,000 acres in holdings. n the 1980s, a new quarry operator mined the reopened Forest Preserves' °,' sire with the idea that royalties could hmd tiuure park development. When the contract was finished in the early 1990s, the azea and the economy were still boom- ing, and the quarry still had more gravel mix that could be exeracted. The operator proposed rhac the district keep the site open Eor another eight years. Even though the park amenity would be delayed and neighbors inconvenienced, the financial windfall would be immense. Although it had X10 million in public funding, the project could not have been completed without an additional $1? mil- lion in mining royalties and in-kind services provided by the mining operator. "The key is to have an aggressive contract with the operator;' says Michael J. Fenelon, ASLA, di- rector of planning, conservation, and devel- opment for Lake County Forest Preserves. square for the entire park and hosts numerous concerts and public events. Ysitors find broad views north- ward to the beach and the South Bay of the lake created in the outline of the old quarry, above. SO ~ .. ifi,?SC 54e ~t9 tip,?sFU Y~ FEB RU/aY 300< Grass slopes wrap around the Millennia Plaza, fap, a circular space that functions as a brick village