DuPage forest officials 'pleased' with progress on Oak Meadows golf course

Seven months into the $16.8 million renovation of Oak Meadows Golf Preserve in Addison, work is on schedule and within budget, DuPage County Forest Preserve District officials say.

"We realize there's a lot of work ahead to get to May 2017," said Ed Stevenson, the district's director of business enterprises, referring to the project's targeted completion date. "With that said, we're pleased with the progress."

Golf operations at Oak Meadows will remain closed until the work is finished.

The project is designed to restore natural habitat and improve flood control along Salt Creek, which runs through the 288-acre property. It also will improve golf operations by consolidating two existing courses into a single 18-hole course with greater flood resistance.

Oak Meadows, which was built in the 1920s, had an 18-hole course as well as a bordering 9-hole course called Maple Meadows East. But the property was experiencing increased flooding.

By consolidating both courses, officials said the future course will have holes that are higher and drier.

Forest preserve Commissioner Jeff Redick said "a vast, diverse group of people" are excited about the project because of what it's going to accomplish.

Redick, for example, noted that the overall stormwater capacity of the property will be increased by more than 20 million gallons.

"That's going to provide relief downstream," Redick said. "And the fact that we're going to be able to operate (after) flood events, this is an exciting project up and down the board."

In the meantime, Stevenson said a restoration of Salt Creek is almost done. Workers then will restore the flow of water to the creek and remove a milelong diversion channel. Part of the channel is going to be the starting point for a future pond.

Work also will start this spring on shaping the new golf course.

"A lot of people who looked at this project and knew it was a golf site thought they were going to drive by and see golf holes being built," Stevenson said. "Here we are seven months into it ... and there's not a golf hole to be found because the focus has been the river restoration and the natural resources work."

He said that's going to change when work begins on the golf features.

"You'll start to see greens getting shaped, fairways getting contoured, tee boxes getting built within this landscape," said Stevenson, adding that grass seed will be planted in late summer or early fall. "As we get to the end of the year, it's going to look like a golf course."

The future 18-hole course will have multiple tee options and expanded practice areas, officials said.