Naper Settlement details expansion plans

Naper Settlement officials unveiled their latest plans Thursday for a major expansion of the 19th-century museum.

Howard Crouse, vice president of the Naperville Heritage Society board of directors, and Peggy Frank, executive director of the settlement, presented the "Pursuing the American Dream" expansion plan to the Naperville park board. The 20-year plan, which is still in conceptual stages, will help the settlement make the most of its 13-acre campus.

"Our objective is to create a museum that tells a lot of the story of Naperville and the challenge for us is looking into the future to have it be more than just a passive museum," Crouse said. "To make it an experiential place for students, for parents, for families. Something that attracts them. Something that connects with their minds as well as their hands."

Part of the plan is to recreate the Scott's Block commercial area with a hardware store, cigar shop, bakery and more. In the late 1800s, this area was located on the east side of Washington Street north of Jefferson Avenue.

Crouse said the stores are "examples of how the American dream came to succeed in Naperville."

Park commissioner Mary Wright said she likes how the plans stay true to the character of the era but asked if the settlement would consider "something that's more Norman Rockwell" than a cigar shop.

Frank said the plans are still being discussed but the Knoch Cigar Store was internationally known.

"We've tried to select businesses ... that were very reflective of what actually existed in downtown Naperville, was important to the community as well as unique," she said.

The settlement is also considering adding a banquet facility that could be used both for student visitors and the community and a bike shop in which people could rent bikes. The DuPage River bike trail runs in front of the settlement's Pre-Emption House.

Part of the settlement would be also residential, showing how houses developed in the late 1800s through the 1930s.

One of the city's most well-known residences, the Caroline Martin Mitchell mansion, is located on the site and has already undergone a major restoration.

Martin Mitchell donated 212 acres to the city in 1936, and it is shared by a variety of groups including the settlement. Crouse said the settlement plans to facilitate ongoing conversations with those groups about whether to reconfigure the land and how that might best be accomplished.

Another part of the museum's plan is to enhance the south end of its campus as the "Pioneer Dream of Success." This area already has a Log House, Fort Payne and Meeting House.

The settlement does not currently have a budget for the project but Crouse acknowledged it would be an expensive undertaking requiring quite a bit of fund-raising.

Park board President Kristen Jungles applauded the settlement for sharing its latest plans.

"I think they do a great service to the community, so any enhancements they have I'm sure will be welcome," she said.

The settlement's next steps include seeking community input, continuing to study the need for a possible banquet facility and looking at parking solutions. It hopes to bring a plan to the city council this summer for conceptual approval.