Kane County
Forest district plans more camping sites
Camping opportunities would be expanded or created at two major locations within the Kane County Forest Preserve District under a development plan recommended for approval this week.
In addition to expansion and redesign of the district’s Paul Wolff Campground in Burnidge Forest Preserve near Gilberts, a plan advanced Tuesday by a campground subcommittee calls for development of the district’s first equestrian campground in the 590-acre preserve, at Coombs and Big Timber Roads.
The estimated $1.3 million development plan, which is contingent in part on state grant funding, would expand both improved and primitive camping at Paul Wolff to a total of 118 sites from 66.
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The plan also would include the addition of five equestrian camping sites for visitors who trailer their horses.
The improved campground could be completed by early next summer, according to district planners.
A similar campground plan for a preserve in the southern half of the district, possibly at Big Rock Forest Preserve near the Kane border with Kendall County, also is being proposed. The new site, which is still to be determined, would replace a one-time campground the district had operated at Bliss Woods Forest Preserve, near Sugar Grove.
That site was closed in 2004 in part because of a failed septic system.
Forest Preserve District Executive Director Monica Meyers said expanding recreational-vehicle and tent camping is one of the priorities included in the district’s new long-term master plan.
Under the plan forwarded Tuesday to the district’s Utilization Committee, camping will be discontinued at Buffalo Park Forest Preserve on the Fox River near Algonquin.
The longtime campground, with 41 spaces, was damaged in an August flood and never reopened.
Because of recurrent flooding, Meyers recommended and the subcommittee endorsed a $275,000 plan to redevelop the Buffalo Park campground into a picnic and fishing site.
— William Presecky
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BATAVIA
Bridge building delay sets back canoe race
Delays in the Wilson Street Bridge reconstruction project have pushed the Mid-America Canoe and Kayak Race from its scheduled June1 date to the fall, the Fox Valley Park District has announced.
Officials are not certain that the work on the bridge will be finished by June1, when an estimated 1,000 racers were scheduled to paddle under it on their way from Mount St. Mary Park in St. Charles to McCullough Park in Aurora.
“We don’t want them racing through a construction zone,” said Park District spokeswoman Amy Roth. The Park District will announce a new date for the race in the spring, she said.
Last year’s race was canceled because of the bridge project, which began in February of that year and was slated to end Dec. 14. Bad weather and high water levels in the Fox River have stalled construction several times, with more delays expected this spring.
Batavia officials are expecting the structural work to be finished no sooner than mid-April, after which crews will make cosmetic improvements to the sidewalks and outlooks.
Last year Aurora Township and the Aurora YWCA co-sponsored a 6-mile race that stayed south of the bridge construction.
The Fox Valley Park District will keep race veterans informed of plans for this year’s race, Roth said.
“This has been a very popular race for many years. We’ve kept canoers abreast of developments as they occur, and we’re very thankful for their patience,” she said.
— Denise Linke
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