City Breaks Ground on Forest Park Project

Hours spent in Lake Forest’s McCormick Ravine searching for the perfect acorn is just one example of the spirit of partnership and collaboration leading up to today’s ground breaking ceremony on the $4 million Forest Park preservation project.

“This is a project of vision, spirit and collaboration,” project chair Ralph Gesualdo said. “This is a truly unique place with a special place in your heart. We’re here to celebrate this partnership. This is part of our cultural landscape.

One of the aims of the project is to maintain the natural setting as it has been for years past well into the future. Two people exemplifying such spirit are Jane O’Neil and Joan DePree who organized a project responsible for growing 43 new oak trees but not just any oak.

O’Neill and DePree led a group of people who waded into ravines and other natural settings to find acorns. Forty-three of them were then sprouted and are being nurtured in McHenry County until they can be planted in Forest Park this spring.

“We spent three hours in a ravine collecting bushels of acorns and we could only find one perfect red oak,” O’Neil said. “They have to be pure acorns which are hard to find.” Many of the acorns they found had been cross pollinated with other types of trees and would not restore the natural setting as it was intended to be.

The effort to preserve and restore the setting and infrastructure of Lake Forest's oldest park comes 26 years after the city poured massive improvements into the beach below and that spot is now the City’s most used public facility. O’Neil and DePree understand the relationship.

“Years ago (26) we were lucky enough to have Lake Forest do this for the beach and this is the topping on the cake,” DePree s told the crowd of more than 100 people as they saw Lake Michigan beyond her as he spoke.

Another part of the partnership effort includes $3.1 million of the needed money coming from privately raised funds. So far, $1.6 million has been paid or promised. The effort is no surprise to Mayor Don Schoenheider.

“We have an increasingly generous citizenry who step up and support something like this when there is a need,” Schoenheider said. “Even a small gift can make a difference.”

The fundraising effort has been growing so fast Gesualdo had to revise his speech a few times. There was $1.2 million in the coffers when he started to write. “Four hundred thousand (dollars) came in in a week’ time,” he said.

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