Barrington group buys, preserves Flint Creek property

The Barrington Area Conservation Trust recently purchased a section of Flint Creek and its watershed a move the group says will help reduce area flooding, protect groundwater, improve water quality and even serve as an educational tool.

The 5.6-acre parcel sits adjacent to the creek at the southwest corner of Lake-Cook Road and Hart Road, kitty corner to Barrington High School.

“Its strategic location just west of town helps our community create a corridor of connected land protection in this vital area surrounding Flint Creek, which will now remain forever as open space and unharmed from development,” President David Nelson said in a release.

The property will be named Pederson Preserve in honor of the late Keith Pederson of Barrington. His wife, Frederica “Freddie” Smith Pederson, along with the conservation group's Save the Countryside Fund, provided a grant for the purchase.

Officials said the Barrington Area Conservation Trust bought the land from the Grace H. Schurecht Trust in a sale priced below the property's appraised value.

The purchase connects more than 30 acres of the watershed, including 20 acres of prairies and wetlands to the east being restored by employees at the PepsiCo Research and Development Technical Center.

The Barrington group said it will contribute to those efforts by applying for grants to help restore stream bank and native habitat surrounding the creek. It also hopes to include Barrington High School students in the restoration process.