Renovation Ongoing at Mayslake Forest Preserve

 By Connie Schmidt

Many of you may know Mayslake from attending an outdoor Shakespeare performance on a warm summer evening. Others may know of Mayslake from the art fairs held in their lovely grand hall. Still others may have bought native plants over the last several years at the Native Plant Sale held at Mayslake. 

This article is written to let you know that much is going on at the former Peabody Estate, and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage is opening the doors wide to encourage you to come check out the improvements and note that more is in store for this beautiful building and the surrounding landscape. This building has a wide array of uses, but one of the most active uses of the building is to connect people to nature through art. You can visit on Monday through Friday from noon to 3:00 with hour long tours available of the history, and beautiful and renovations. It is also open on Saturday from 9:00 – 1:00 but closed on Sunday. Here is a little background information from the District website.

Designed by renowned Chicago Architect Benjamin H. Marshall in 1919, Mayslake Peabody Estate was acquired by the Forest Preserve District through a voter referendum in 1993. In the years following the acquisition, the District made improvements to the life safety of the building, including adding a basic sprinkler system, abating hazardous materials in the building, and installing an HVAC system. Additionally, several incremental historic restoration projects were done at Mayslake Hall, funded in part with donor contributions, and the third floor of the retreat wing was adapted to be reused as storage for the District’s artifacts and collections. While a portion of the estate has been used for education programming and events, much of the estate remains unusable because of deficiencies in accessibility and the lack of funding to make needed upgrades to the interior to accommodate more robust education programming, until recently.

In 2019, the District’s Master Plan approved a Certified Project to restore the exterior of Mayslake Hall, which is now complete. While most project expenses were covered by District resources, the project benefitted from partnerships, including funding through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Public Museum Capital Grants Program and philanthropic support through The Friends of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Landscaping is being planned for the exterior spaces as well and will feature native plants.

The interior has benefited from updates as well. Among the upgrades is the woodwork on the grand staircase, which was meticulously restored to showcase the intricate carving featured there. Throughout the first floor, new windows have been installed for energy efficiency and to bring in the lovely views of the outdoors.

However, the retreat wing, nearby Portiuncula chapel, and other smaller structures were not included in the restoration project, and much work remains to be determined. Additionally, impending issues with the estate’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system have been identified, requiring an increasing and unsustainable amount of labor, materials, and services to keep it in an operable condition. Also, air conditioning has never been extended to the event hall, thereby restricting use of the space. Some of the existing electrical and plumbing systems are also deficient and should be evaluated and updated for code compliance.

The district is already scheduling events at Mayslake, and a major fundraiser featuring Geoffrey Bair of WTTW was held this spring. River Prairie Group held a forum at Mayslake this Spring to educate stakeholders on the need to transition to electric school buses for the health of our children and air quality. (See another article in this newsletter for details.) AND, please stay tuned for a HUGE pollinator information event to be held here with DuPage Monarch Project in March 2025.

The Forest Preserve District is working with a consultant that specializes in restoration and adaptive reuse of historic buildings to perform an assessment of the building and its systems and code analysis. They will then formulate recommendations for repairs and restoration.  Additionally, the consultant will work with staff to develop a master plan for the building, including gathering feedback from the public and stakeholders. 

Although buildings are not the primary focus of the Forest Preserve or the River Prairie Group of the Sierra Club, this historical building offers much for residents of the district who may not be able to utilize nature outdoors. The District is creating a new Master Plan for Mayslake Peabody Estate and is prioritizing what modifications are needed to meet education programming for the future.