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TO: Mayor Thomas J. Weisner
FROM: Daniel Anderson, Superintendent of Parks & Recreation
DATE: September 20, 2016
SUBJECT:
Requesting approval to accept a grant of $400,000 from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources FY '15 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant program, for improvements to Mastodon Island at Phillips Park.
PURPOSE:
The FY '15 OSLAD grant will cover about 50% of the cost of a project to educate and interpret the life of the Mastodons and the history of the Phillips Park fossil excavation, through an interpretive play adventure area. The focal point of the Mastodon Island experience will be an adventure Mastodon-themed playground that will include Mastodon-themed play equipment, a fossil dig activity area, and an animatronic Mastodon. The shelter and amphitheater area will be improved to accommodate groups. A plaza with a shade structure will feature a windmill to generate power for the island fixtures and promote green education. The north portion of Mastodon Island will be improved to include full accessibility and contain a series of outdoor activity pods.
BACKGROUND:
The historical significance of Mastodon Lake to the City of Aurora dates to the Great Depression, and a Civil Works Administration project to dig out a boggy area in Phillips Park on Aurora's southeast side. On March 7, 1934, the CWA work crew uncovered a massive Mastodon skull buried in the swampland. The Mastodon skull, weighing 188 pounds, became front-page news and led to the new waterway being named Mastodon Lake. The skull and other Mastodon bones unearthed during the Depression-era dig are showcased in the Mastodon Gallery at the Phillips Park Visitors Center. The bones are estimated to be 10,000 to 20,000 years old.
The Aurora Parks & Recreation Division was awarded this FY '15 OSLAD grant for the Mastodon Island project in January 2015. However, the grant was "suspended" by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources just a few weeks...
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