Oak Meadows Golf Preserve improvements on track

A multimillion-dollar renovation of Oak Meadows Golf Preserve in Addison is off to a smooth start with crews scheduled to finish a key component next month.

Consolidating the site's two existing golf courses into a single 18-hole course with greater flood resistance won't start until spring, according to officials with the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. But a restoration of Salt Creek, which runs through the 288-acre property, is nearing completion.

"It's thrilling to see the momentum that the workers have gained with the good weather," said Ed Stevenson, the district's director of business enterprises.

The $16.8 million project is designed to restore natural habitat and improve flood control along Salt Creek while creating flood-resistant golf operations.

Since the project started in July, Stevenson said hundreds of mostly nonnative trees have been cut down. Bulldozers and other earth-moving machines, meanwhile, are shaping areas for new wetlands and stormwater storage.

"There are new sight lines, particularly along the creek corridor," Stevenson said. "We're seeing a beauty to the property and elevation changes that we never could appreciate before."

But the main focus right now is on Salt Creek.

"They want to get in and out of Salt Creek as soon as possible before winter sets in," Stevenson said.

A milelong diversion channel has been created to carry water while restoration work is being done to the permanent creek.

The goal is to make Salt Creek cleaner and improve its water quality. To achieve another goal, several hundred of the trees that were cut down on the property are being put into the shoreline.

"We're reusing some of the trees from the property to create habitat for aquatic life and to stabilize the shoreline," Stevenson said.

Eventually, more than 500 native trees will be planted at Oak Meadows to replace the non-native trees that were cut down.

Stevenson said the creek restoration is scheduled to be completed by the end of November. Once it gets too cold, work on the entire project will stop for the winter.

When the project resumes in the spring, there will be a lot of planting to do. Work on reshaping the golf course also will begin.

"The golf component won't get started until sometime next year because a lot of the native restoration and water quality improvements are leading the way," Stevenson said.

Oak Meadows, which was built in the 1920s, has long had an 18-hole course as well as a bordering 9-hole course called Maple Meadows East. But the property was experiencing increased flooding.

By consolidating both courses, Stevenson said workers will create "18 holes that are higher and drier."

The future 18-hole course will have multiple tee options and expanded practice areas, officials said.

Meanwhile, the overall stormwater capacity of the property will be increased by more than 20 million gallons.

Officials say golf operation at Oak Meadows will remain closed until the work is finished in time for the 2017 golf season.