FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY GATEWAY MASTER PLAN NOVEMBER 2015 Bluestone + Associates WRD Environmental Chicago Public Art Group Carol Naughton + Associates table of contents INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 1 Goals.............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Master Planning Process........................................................................................................................... 2 IDENTIFYING GATEWAY SITES.................................................................................................................. 5 Selection Criteria........................................................................................................................................ 5 Priority Gateway Sites............................................................................................................................... 7 IMPROVING WAYFINDING AT GATEWAY SITES................................................................................. 9 Case Studies - Implementing A Wayfinding Master Plan.................................................................... 10-12 Improving Access & Orientation.............................................................................................................. 14 Defining Priority Destinations.................................................................................................................. 16 Key Recommendations: Improving Wayfinding..................................................................................... 17 IMPROVING AMENITIES AT GATEWAY SITES..................................................................................... 19 Case Study - Design Standards For Trail Amenities............................................................................. 20 Key Recommendations.............................................................................................................................. 21 IMPROVING SENSE OF PLACE AT GATEWAY SITES........................................................................ 23 Case Study - Natural Landscape To Improve Sense of Place............................................................. 24 Case Study - Site Lighting Policies.......................................................................................................... 25 Case Study - Formalizing A Policy Regarding Public Art.................................................................... 26 Art within the Forest Preserves............................................................................................................... 27 Case Study - A System-Wide Interpretive Master Plan....................................................................... 28 Key Recommendations: Improving Sense of Place 29 IMPROVING ACCESS TO OUTDOOR RECREATION & VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES....... 31 Case Study - Motivational Signage To Encourage Visitors................................................................. 32 Key Recommendations: Improving Access to Outdoor Recreation & Volunteer Opportunities 33 PROMOTION OF GATEWAY SITES........................................................................................................... 35 Case Study - Off-Site Locations To Host Visitor Information............................................................. 37 Case Study - Docent or Volunteer Program.......................................................................................... 37 Key Recommendations: Promoting Gateway Sites.............................................................................. 38 NEXT STEPS...................................................................................................................................................... 41 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................................. 43 4 FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY • GATEWAY MASTER PLAN An estimated 40-million visitors come to the preserves each year to enjoy nature, take advantage of recreation amenities and to simply relax. The Forest Preserves are home to over nearly 70.000 • Easily accessible entry points can be hard to find acres of land including natural areas like woodlands, and it is sometimes difficult to know what to do wetlands, prairies, and savannas. In addition the Forest when you get there. Preserves have a number of recreational amenities including: numerous lakes for boating or fishing, ten • While the Forest Preserves are filled with picnickers sledding hills, six nature centers, five campgrounds, three on sunny summer weekends, many of these visitors aquatic centers, nine model airplane flying fields, ten golf have never been or don’t know what to do beyond courses, over 300 picnic groves, three off-leash dog areas the picnic shelter. and more. The Forest Preserves’ trail system is also one of the goals largest and best networks in Chicagoland. Forest The goal of this master plan is to define a class of special Preserves’ trails follow the region’s major waterways like gateway sites equitably distributed throughout the the Des Plaines River and the North Branch of the Chicago Forest Preserves to encourage people to enter into the River, and most recently the Cal-Sag Channel. The system preserves. Gateway sites were first conceived as part of includes over 300 miles of multi-purpose trails. the 2013 Centennial Campaign Plan, which noted that: Overall, the Forest Preserves is an unparalleled The gateway sites will be located at environmental and recreational asset for the Chicago highly visible, high-traffic locations throughout region and has served as such for the past century. Yet, Cook County. Gateway sites may include well- public awareness of the Forest Preserves along with marked trailheads and trails, outdoor concessions wayfinding are often cited as major challenges of this or technology that provides information on ways resource-rich system. to engage with that site. A dedication marker or special feature (art installation, etc.) may also be incorporated. There will be an effort to engage In recognition of its 100-year anniversary, the Forest more volunteers in the restoration and Preserves embarked on a multi-year Centennial Campaign preservation of the site to help galvanize the next to celebrate the system’s legacy and to position it for generation of conservation-minded citizens. the growth and change needed for the next one-hundred years. In 2015 the Forest Preserves released the Next A related health-minded goal is to inspire and motivate Century Conservation Plan, a restoration-focused vision people to get outdoors and get healthy. This planning for the next 25 years. effort was made possible, in part, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through The Next Century Conservation Plan notes: the Healthy HotSpot initiative led by the Cook County Department of Public Health. The Healthy HotSpot • Although more than 80 percent of the population initiative aims to build healthy places in suburban Cook of Cook County lives within five miles of a forest County through community partnerships that make preserve, many residents have no idea that a natural healthy living easier. treasure is waiting for them right in their backyard. FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY • GATEWAY MASTER PLAN 1 master planning process A consultant team and staff worked with stakeholders to identity the preliminary gateway sites to be assessed, alternative gateway types and site-specific ideas for gateway site improvements. Stakeholder engagement was conducted in a variety of venues, including: • Internal advisory group meetings Two meetings were held with twenty-three representatives from nine departments within the Forest Preserves of Cook County. • External advisory group meetings Two meetings were held with ten representatives from a diverse group of public and private organizations and businesses such as: Friends of the Forest Preserves, Openlands, The Nature Conservancy, REI, Cook County Department of Public Health, Arts Alliance Illinois, and others. • Site focus group meetings Over eighty representatives and residents from local municipalities, organizations and businesses attended meetings hosted at each gateway site. • Stakeholder Interviews Four interview sessions were conducted with representatives from the Forest Preserve Foundation, Forest Preserves of Cook County, Beyond the Ball and Friends of the Forest Preserves. More details on participants and actions taken at these meetings is included in the acknowledgments section and Appendix of this report. 2 FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY • GATEWAY MASTER PLAN FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY • GATEWAY MASTER PLAN 3 DEER GROVE / CAMP REINBERG CAMP DAN BEARD SKOKIE LAGOONS CRABTREE NATURE CENTER RIVER TRAIL NATURE CENTER ROLLING KNOLLS BECK LAKE CALDWELL WOODS / BUNKER HILL NED BROWN / BUSSE WOODS SCHILLER WOODS THATCHER WOODS / TRAILSIDE MUSEUM GENERAL HEADQUARTERS BEMIS WOODS MILLER MEADOW CHICAGO PORTAGE / CERMAK AQUATIC CENTER ARIE CROWN FOREST / SUNDOWN MEADOW DAN RYAN WOODS CAMP BULLFROG LAKE / MAPLE LAKE BOAT HOUSE / LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE (PALOS PULASKI COMPLEX) EGGERS GROVE SWALLOW CLIFF WOODS WHISTLER WOODS SAGAWAU ENVIRONMENTAL KICKAPOO WOODS LEARNING CENTER CAMP SULLIVAN gateway sites SAND RIDGE / CAMP SHABBONA WOODS GATEWAY