Nature playground coming to Schaumburg's Spring Valley
Preparations have begun for the construction of a $2.5 million nature playground - to be called Bison's Bluff - along with an expanded parking lot at the Schaumburg Park District's Spring Valley Nature Center.
Crews have removed some less desirable trees from the border of the nature center along Schaumburg Road to make room for the transplant of better trees.
Spring Valley Manager Dave Brooks said the intention of increasingly popular nature parks is to improve opportunities for play in natural environments, something easier to come by for children of earlier generations.
Bison's Bluff will include a flowing stream not intended for swimming, but where kids might splash along the edge of the water or catch tadpoles, Brooks said.
There also will be elements of active play like slides and climbing features, but they will be designed to blend in more to the natural
landscape than those found in traditional neighborhood parks.
The best local example of such a park is the approximately 15-year-old one at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, which is a little bigger than the one-acre Bison's Bluff, Brooks said.
The project is being funded as part of the park district's capital expenditures for the year and won't require an increase in taxes.
“Among staff at the nature center here, we've been talking about a nature park for about 10 years,” Brooks said. “With most things like this, it comes down to when the funding is available.”
The parking lot expansion will increase the number of spaces from 80 to 140.
Work is anticipated to finish around the end of September, but it isn't certain for how much of 2016 the park will be in use, Brooks said. Many aspects of it will be shut down each winter.
Officials say they hope to minimize the impact the
parking lot construction has on Spring Valley visitors and programs throughout the year.
For more information, visit the park district's Frequently Asked Questions page on Bison's Bluff at parkfun.com/facilities/spring-valley/bisons-bluff.