James “Pate” Philip State Park–located where DuPage, Cook and Kane Counties converge–will expand services under a new funding agreement, the state’s Department of Natural Resources announced Friday.
The agreement came just a week before last year’s funding arrangement was due to expire–and it followed a year in which the west-suburban park–one of the nearest state parks to downtown Chicago–saw visitation drop sharply as it ran on bare-bones staffing and with both programming and hours reduced.
The park–501 acres of tallgrass prairie formerly known as Tri-County State Park–opened to the public in 2003 under an unusual arrangement in which the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County handles day-to-day operations. A $1 million state grant started that deal and also provided for efforts to restore the former farmland. But that funding ran dry a year ago.
With rumors circulating that the new park may close, state and district officials reached a one-year agreement last summer that kept the park open, but shifted the payroll to the district. As a result, staffing was cut back to just a receptionist in the visitor center and a naturalist rotating in and out.
“This new agreement will not only ensure that citizens and visitors can continue to enjoy the park, but it will also expand current services to allow even more people to take advantage of this unique outdoor opportunity,” DNR Acting Director Sam Flood said in a statement.
Details of the plan will be made public at a formal announcement at the park on July 11.
Forest Preserve District President D. “Dewey” Pierotti said the agreement would stretch for “years to come” and allow the park to restore its hours to what they once were.
“I was kind of in never-never land, because I was really devoting DuPage County tax dollars for a state park, and what I was always upset about is we never had people from Kane and Cook County stepping up [to] the plate,” Pierotti said, noting that park visitors came from throughout the region.
“I’m very pleased with the agreement,” Pierotti said.
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