Guest Speaker: Terry Hannan
The DeKalb County Forest Preserve District is preparing to open its newest and most-anticipated preserve -- at the site of the now-defunct Evergreen Village mobile home park.
Terry Hannan from the Forest Preserve District says its location and history have made it a topic of keen interest to the public. Evergreen Village, located across from the Sycamore Golf Course, was notorious for the flooding problems it faced after especially heavy rainfall; many of its low-income residents were hard-hit by the damages and expense caused by its flooding, and DeKalb County spent nearly two decades trying to acquire the land and relocate the homeowners.
After obtaining a grant from FEMA, and following a long holdout by the owner, the county managed to obtain the land and find new properties for the occupants. Now work is underway to revamp the trailer park into a public park; it will have a fishing pond, cross-country hiking and ski trails, shelters, and a connection to the county's hiking/biking trail network.
Work on the Sycamore Forest Preserve is expected to be finished by this fall.