Architect brought Barrington its 'Field of Dreams'
A landscape architect, who designed more than a dozen parks in Palatine and the original layout for the Barrington "Fields of Dreams" facility behind Barrington High School, has died.
William Blue Vaughan was the principal landscape architect contracted to work with Palatine park planners from 1970 to 1983. He passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 89.
Palatine officials point to many of the village's neighborhood parks that he designed, including: Cedar, Eagle, Doug Lindberg, Locust, Mallard, Oast, Partridge, Peregrine and Sparrow parks, as well as the Margreth Riemer, Plum Grove, and the original Tom T. Hamilton reservoirs.
Fred Hall, retired Palatine Park District executive director, says if he had to highlight one of Mr. Vaughan's designs, it would be his work in1974, in carving out the first four and a half miles of the Palatine Bike Path.
"As a park district, it's one of the best things we've done," Hall says. "For this part of the country, we were pioneers in that effort."
The first two miles of it follow the Commonwealth Edison right-of-way, but the remaining stretch wraps around the Palatine Hills Golf Course and up the old Palatine, Lake Zurich & Wauconda Railroad, which was heavily overgrown since ending operation in 1924.
"Bill had his work cut out for him," Vaughan says. "He had to cut a 10-foot-wide swath through densely overgrown brush, without destroying the beauty of it."
Family members said Mr. Vaughan's designs can be found all over the world, and include zoos, parks, ball fields, and golf courses, from Africa, to Germany, to Canada.
Working on the bike path, however, was a labor of love for Mr. Vaughan, who loved the outdoors and such active pursuits as canoeing and camping.
Barrington Youth Baseball & Softball officials credit Mr. Vaughan with mapping out the original design for their "Field of Dreams" concept.
"Bill did the original layout, and our ideas flowed from there," says Bob Jensen of Deer Park, chairman of the project, which began in 1987 and wound up in 1991. "It's become the jewel in the crown of the Northwest suburbs, in terms of athletic facilities."
Mr. Vaughan is survived by his wife of 55 years, Charlotte; and his children, Tamara (Thomas) O'Connor of North Barrington, Juni (Brett) Hartmann of Palatine, William Blue (Kathy) Vaughan of Wauconda, and Christopher "Keek" (Kim) Vaughan of Rolling Meadows; as well as 11 grandchildren.
Visitation will take place from 4-8 p.m. today at Glueckert Funeral Home, 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road in Arlington Heights, before a 10 a.m. funeral service on Saturday at Willow Creek Community Church, 67 E. Algonquin Road in South Barrington.