Update Presented on Willowbrook Improvements

By the staff of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

On April 6, the River Prairie Group of Sierra Club, Go Green Glen Ellyn, and Sustain DuPage welcomed speakers from the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County who provided an update on the District’s Willowbrook Wildlife Center Phase II Master Plan implementation. Commissioner Jeff Gahris and Jeannine Kannegiesser, Chief Partnership and Philanthropy Officer, shared information and answered questions from the audience of nearly 30 interested community members.

The importance and scope of this project:

The Willowbrook Wildife Center has not kept pace with animal care needs, and has outgrown its existing clinic. The current Willowbrook project will construct a 27,000-square-foot new wildlife rehabilitation clinic and visitor center, designed as the District’s first net-zero designed building, which means the energy produced from renewable resources exceeds the energy consumed by the building. New outdoor and indoor animal rehabilitation areas will support animal care and recovery and help ensure each species continues to receive appropriate medical care. Visitors will be able to view animals as they're examined, treated, in surgery, being fed, and rehabilitated behind one-way windows from the visitor center into the clinical areas. Existing non-releasable resident animals, most of which are geriatric, will be housed in specially designed enclosures appropriate to their needs to allow them to live out their lives as humanely as possible. Video monitors will showcase select animals and animals in the rehabilitation enclosures.

Interactive educational exhibits on the wildlife rehabilitation process, an outdoor classroom, an interpretive trail with wildlife observation areas, and outdoor activity spaces will help demonstrate how to attract and live in harmony with native wildlife. A wildlife garden and an interpretive trail will allow the public to see wildlife in natural settings at the forest preserve. Programming to support public engagement will focus on the importance of wildlife conservation for healthy ecosystems and healthy communities.

This project was begun in 2022 and is expected to be completed by 2025. It is supported with a combination of Forest Preserve District funds, grants, and donations. More information about the project and how to get involved is available at https://www.dupageforest.org/what-we-do/projects/willowbrook-master-plan.