Naper Homestead groundbreaking set for July 6

Ceremony Will Take Place at 3 p.m.

Mayor A. George Pradel, representatives from the Naperville City Council, Naper Settlement and the Naperville Heritage Society will join together to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Naper Homestead historic interpretive site. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6 at the Naper Homestead site, located at 338 W. Jefferson Ave., the southeast corner of Jefferson Avenue and Mill Street.

Members of the public are invited and encouraged to join in the celebration honoring the interpretive site, which will also serve as a gateway to Naper Settlement through honoring Naperville's founding family. Parking for the groundbreaking will be available throughout downtown Naperville.

On April 13, 2006, in commemoration of the City's 175th anniversary, the City of Naperville purchased the original Joseph and Almeda Naper Homestead due to its historical significance. Subsequently, two on-site archeological digs managed by the Naperville Heritage Society conducted in 2006 and 2007 revealed foundation elements of four different structures that once stood on the site, as well as more than 25,000 artifacts.

Once this work was completed, an ad-hoc committee consisting of Naperville Heritage Society and City staff and volunteers recommended the vacant Naper Homestead property be transformed into a self-guided historic interpretive site commemorating Naperville's founding family, Captain Joseph and Almeda Naper. In October 2010, the State of Illinois announced that the Naperville Heritage Society/Naper Settlement received a $350,000 grant through the Public Museum Capital Grant Program for the Naper Homestead project. These funds will be used to construct the self-guided historic interpretive site, obtain exhibit signage and site artifact storage and seed money for future public art.

Construction is anticipated to be complete by the end of October 2011. For more information on the Naper Homestead project, visit www.naperville.il.us/naperhomestead.aspx. For more information on the City of Naperville, visit www.naperville.il.us. Sign up to receive the latest news on the City of Naperville's projects and initiatives via e-mail at www.naperville.il.us/enews.aspx.