DuPage forest preserve to reduce guard house locations

DuPage County Forest Preserve officials are taking steps to remove four properties from its resident guard program.

The district has guard houses, which serve as homes to some forest preserve employees, at preserves around the county to deter crime and provide "a point of contact" for visitors.

But it's been years since Churchill Woods Forest Preserve near Glen Ellyn and Graue Mill in Oak Brook have had active guard houses.

Graue Mill's guard house was removed in 2014. And the McKee House in Churchill Woods has been vacant since the district stopped using it as a guard house in 2002.

Other sites expected to be removed from the resident guard program are Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve near Naperville and Salt Creek Park Forest Preserve near Wood Dale.

A guard house at Springbrook Prairie has been vacant for about a year. And the district employee living at Salt Creek Park is going to move to another district-owned guard house.

"These are houses that were empty or were not being used," district police Chief Martin Gainer said.

To continue using the guard houses at Springbrook Prairie and Salt Creek Park, officials said the district would need to do a "moderate to high level of maintenance in the near future."

Meanwhile, officials said users of those preserves are better served using 911 for emergency response.

"We're able to respond faster to calls (than in the past)," Gainer said.

By removing four locations from its resident guard program, the district will be down to nine guard houses.

The remaining houses provide security at "major" facilities, officials said. Two of the structures - one at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago and another at Danada in Wheaton - also are associated with animal-care responsibilities.

District police officers live in eight of the guard houses. A field operation maintenance employee lives in another.

All the employees pay rent to live in the homes.

In the meantime, district staff is working to identify the guard houses that get the most walk-up requests for service and assistance.

"Some are used more than others," Gainer said. "It's an ongoing process to determine which have more value than others."

The plan is to eventually remove less critical guard houses when they become vacant.

Commissioners are expected to decide at a later date if the houses at Springbrook Prairie and Salt Creek Park should be demolished.