Naper Settlement gets an environmentally friendly facelift

Long known for its interpretations of history and the olden days, Naper Settlement is about to welcome brand-new paths and roadways, rain barrels and environmentally friendly landscape elements.

The improvements are part of a $2.25 million project that will close one parking lot and several buildings on the 12-acre site, which opened Saturday for the summer season. The settlement will remain open during construction, offering events and historical lessons in areas not affected by the two phases of construction.

On June 1, workers will begin installing permeable pavers at the settlement’s chapel parking lot off Aurora Avenue, said Donna DeFalco, marketing coordinator. The lot will be closed to visitors until June 30, but the settlement’s main parking lot at Webster Street and Porter Avenue will remain open all year.

The pavers, interlocking concrete blocks set atop layers of sand, soil and rocks, will purify water as it flows around them and into the DuPage River watershed, said Debbie Grinnell, vice president of museum services.

“We look at conservation like we look at preservation,” Grinnell said. “We want to preserve the past and we also want to conserve the earth.”

Permeable pavers also will replace the asphalt waking paths that circle the property, guiding visitors from building to building in their trek through an interactive representation of Naperville circa the 1830s.

Native vegetation, such as long-rooted prairie grasses, will be planted as part of the improvement project as well, DeFalco said, adding to the water purifying effects of the permeable pavers.

In another water-saving effort, the settlement will install two cisterns — or underground water storage tanks — at the Martin-Mitchell Mansion, which originally included a functioning cistern, and behind the Paw Paw Post Office.

“In the case of everything old is new again, we’re going to be including cisterns, which are receptacles for holding water, and a rain barrel for capturing water that we’ll be using to water the gardens,” DeFalco said.

To make up for some areas closed for construction, staff have planned events at the buildings that are staying open, including a behind-the-scenes tour of the archives May 14. Off-site walking tours also are scheduled, including a trip to the Naperville Cemetery May 7.

“It’s offering us some great opportunities this summer to try some different programming while we go through some major construction,” Grinnell said. “History is all around us; it’s not just at Naper Settlement, and we want to take advantage of that.”