Although they had to wait a while, Aurora officials can now go ahead with developing an interpretive adventure area on the peninsula at Mastodon Lake.
Word from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is that grants awarded as part of the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development program are back on, after being delayed as part of the budget battle between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly.
The state agency awarded Aurora a $400,000 grant in 2015. With word that it will be awarded, Aurora officials are getting ready to develop the interpretive adventure area that will include an adventure playground with mastodon-themed play equipment, a fossil dig area, brick plaza, shelters, and restoration of the existing shelter and small amphitheater.
It will take about two years to develop the area, officials have estimated. Mastodon Peninsula and Lake are in the western edge of Phillips Park, on the city’s East Side.
This week, aldermen on the City Council Finance Committee recommended accepting the grant, and authorizing an agreement with RGC Design to do the landscape architecture and professional design for the project.
“There will be recreational and interpretive trails, with other elements of the Mastodon dig, or the natural habitat,” said Bob Collins, of RGC Design, to aldermen. “There will be three fishing piers and four rock outcroppings (for fishing).”
Besides its fun, educational and historic elements, the project also will have an emphasis on the environment, city officials said.
Power for the five-acre peninsula will be generated by a windmill and solar panels with a plaza highlighting these green energy components. The north portion of the peninsula will feature an accessible path in a loop with access to a series of outdoor “activity pods” that will feature such ecological habitats as shoreline plants, butterfly gardens, bird habitats and other wildlife enhancements for use by groups or individuals.
The shoreline will be restored with native plants to reduce erosion and increase habitat restoration awareness, and improve the water quality of Mastodon Lake, city officials said.
The historical significance of Mastodon Lake dates to the Great Depression, and a Civil Works Administration project to dig out a boggy area in Phillips Park.
On March 7, 1934, the work crew uncovered a massive mastodon skull buried in the swampland. Two months earlier, in January, workers made their first discovery of bones in the bog. But it was the mastodon skull, weighing 188 pounds, that became front-page news and led to the waterway being named Mastodon Lake.
The mastodon bones have been displayed at several museums over the years, and today are showcased in the Mastodon Gallery at the Phillips Park Visitors Center. The bones are estimated to be 10,000 to 20,000 years old. The skull is the largest of the artifacts – other bones on display include a 92-pound lower jaw, a 6-foot-long tusk, ribs and vertebrae.
The Mastodon Gallery also includes enlarged photographs and a detailed history timeline related to the discovery.
For information on the Mastodon Gallery, go to https://www.aurora-il.org/parksandrecreation/visitorscenter.php.
