DuPage Forest Preserve District commissioners Tuesday celebrated the groundbreaking for an administrative headquarters near Wheaton that after more than two years of planning and replanning, appears ready for construction.
“We’ve all waited a long time,” commission President Dewey Pierotti (R-Addison) said, drawing a few knowing grins. “The district really deserves this because of everything it’s accomplished for the citizens of DuPage County.”
The district is spending $6.8 million to build the 44,000-square-foot complex at the Danada Forest Preserve on the west side of Naperville Boulevard.
The Prairie-style building, which will house offices and meeting rooms, will be covered with a facade of limestone, the rock that underlies DuPage County, officials said.
DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom (R-Naperville), former president of the Conservation Foundation, praised its location.
“Danada is probably the crown jewel of the Forest Preserve District,” he said, adding that it is situated in the center of DuPage County.
The headquarters is expected to open in March 2000, although some officials said, with a chuckle, that they would believe it when they see it.
The Forest Preserve District vacated its offices in Glen Ellyn this year after closing on the sale of the building to the Glen Ellyn Park District.
Now, district employees are temporarily working out of several locations, including an office leased by the district at 120 E. Liberty Drive in Wheaton.
Forest officials initially contracted for the sale of the Glen Ellyn building under the assumption that the Danada headquarters would be finished by the sale’s closing.
But commissioners delayed construction of the headquarters by more than 16 months while attempting to scale back its escalating costs.
“I am very proud to be a part of this process, even if it took 2 1/2 years,” Commissioner Michael Formento (R-Glen Ellyn) said.
Downers Grove-based Wight & Co., which already does business for the county, designed the building.
In addition to the headquarters, construction will take place this summer on other district-owned properties.
During a regular board meeting Tuesday, commissioners approved spending up to $52,000 to build a 4-acre dog exercise area at Mayslake Forest Preserve in Oak Brook.
Gale Construction will build a 48-inch-high woven-wire fence enclosing the area and a 10-foot-wide limestone gravel trail leading from the parking lot to the enclosure.
The planned dog run drew controversy because of its proximity to the Francis Peabody Mansion, a historical building being renovated for tours and public events.
“A very few people felt it was not fancy enough for use on Mayslake property because it was a gentleman’s estate,” said Commissioner Patricia Carr (R-Wheaton), who supported the project. “The irony is (Peabody) had horses and dogs. . . . Ultimately, the commission felt it should be used by everybody.”
Also, the commission approved a contract to spend up to $330,984 on renovations to the Fullersburg Woods Visitors Center in Oak Brook. Workers will remodel the first floor of the Environmental Museum and convert a guard residence into offices.
In other business, the commissioners voted to withdraw plans to acquire several parcels of land near York/High Ridge Forest Preserve in unincorporated Lombard after property owners objected.
Commissioner William Maio (R-Itasca), chairman of the Finance and Land Acquisition Committee, said, “We don’t want to be condemning people’s land if we don’t have to.”
He added, however, that the district still would pursue the land if its owners decided to sell it.
