Forest district plans to expand preserve area near Lake Villa

A protected natural area near Lake Villa will get a sizable addition under a deal being considered by Lake County Forest Preserve District officials.

District leaders want to buy a 59-acre parcel adjoining the Sun Lake Forest Preserve, which is on Grass Lake Road east of Route 83, for $1.5 million.

If approved, the purchase would expand the preserve to more than 630 acres. It would surpass the Singing Hills Forest Preserve near Volo as the county's seventh-largest preserve.

The forest board's land preservation and acquisition committee will discuss the proposal today. That meeting is set for 8:30 a.m. at the Independence Grove preserve near Libertyville.

The full board could approve the deal Oct. 9.

The land now belongs to Joe Sterbenz, who owns the Antioch Bowl, forest district Executive Director Tom Hahn said. It's on the north side of Grass Lake Road, across from the preserve's main entrance, Hahn said.

It's next to a roughly 60-acre addition the district acquired in 2004.

The land, which contains woods, open fields and wetlands, could be restored or be used for trails, Hahn said.

"It just adds a lot more options for us on the north side of Grass Lake Road," he said.

Trails, parking and access points have been added to Sun Lake in recent years. A long-term restoration project is under way, too.