Nature play area, other projects proceeding at Lake County’s largest forest preserve
Another big step in the transformation of the core of Lake County’s largest forest preserve will involve construction of a nature play area as a main feature.
Official approval of a $1.23 million contract with AGAE Contractors Inc. of Elk Grove Village to build the play area at Lakewood Forest Preserve near Wauconda is expected Aug. 14. Work is anticipated to begin at the end of August and be completed by November 2025.
Situated on 4 acres, the play area will be off a rebuilt and realigned Forest Preserve Drive from Route 176, the main entrance to the 2,835-acre preserve.
The play area will include three zones including structured elements of natural and human-made materials, a transitionary area set among mature native trees and an exploratory zone offering “an immersive nature experience,” according to the Lake County Forest Preserve District.
Natural material like logs and branches will be used “to inspire a different type of imaginative play,” explained Kevin Kleinjan, director of planning. Three of the acres will be fenced to allow parents and caregivers confidence to let kids explore on their own.
The play area is near the cleared site of the former Lake County Discovery Museum, which operated for many years closing in 2016. It reopened as Dunn Museum at forest preserve headquarters in Libertyville in 2018.
A huge mastodon model that greeted visitors at the old site has been in storage and will be touched up for future display visible to anyone coming in on Forest Preserve Drive, Kleinjan said.
The district received state grants of $1 million for work at Lakewood, including a matching grant of up to $600,000 for the nature play area.
Forest officials approved a comprehensive master plan for Lakewood in early 2020 with four main goals: improve public access; reduce operating costs; provide a new, more efficient design and consolidate uses; replace or renovate infrastructure such as electric service and wells; and, dedicate areas for restoration.
The overall budget is about $7.1 million with Improvements focused south of Route 176 and west of Fairfield Road, part of the original Lakewood Farms purchased in 1968 and considered the heart of the sprawling preserve.
The plan involves separate but related aspects: a solar-powered, zero-energy maintenance facility, which is complete, open and in use; new and rebuilt interior roads, parking lots and other features; and, a nature play area.
“Reconstruction of roads, parking and trails is underway,” Kleinjan said. “There’s a lot going on.”
An accessible floating pier on Taylor Lake is complete. A 1.6-mile looped trail connecting to the regional Millennium Trail and circling the lake, as well as two parking lots are in progress.
Kleinjan said site improvements are expected to be largely complete this year.
Future plans include an all-season pavilion on Taylor Lake and an open-air family shelter. Utilities and grading for those projects are being done but building them will require future funding.