CAMPTON HILLS – Campton Township's purchase this month of the 208-acre Gray Willow Farm signals the culmination of nearly a decade of preserving open space, officials said.
The pristine acreage on Burlington and Corron roads with its rolling hills and majestic 175-year-old oak trees had at one time been sought after by developers, Campton Township Supervisor John Kupar said.
"It was actually a No. 1 rated property on our initial open space program back in 2001," Kupar said. "And at that time, we felt it was out of reach because developers wanted to pay some big money for it. And at the time, the owner did not want to sell it to anybody."
The township paid $7 million this month to the Lillian Fessenden Gift-Giving Trust and the Gray Willows Farm Limited Partnership for the property. The Fessenden family has owned the farm since the 1930s. The terms include allowing Lillian Fessenden, 93, and the property's caretakers to remain until their deaths.
Kupar also credited Kane County Board member Barbara Wojnicki, R-Campton Hills, who served on the township's original open space committee in 2000.
"She came up to me last October and said there was a rumor the owners might be willing to sell," Kupar said. "Barb had a good part in this. It was rather fortuitous we approached the attorney last year and she had decided to sell."
In an e-mail Wojnicki called it "a magnificent purchase, possibly the most pristine land in Kane County."
Attorney Ronald Klein of Sycamore said that when Fessenden was offered a substantial amount from a developer several years ago, she did not want to sell.
"They were delighted with the idea that the township would buy it and keep it in its present form and not have it covered with houses," Klein said. "She did not want them chopping it all up and building condos all over. That did not appeal to her. And the developer has since gone out of business."
"There's farming on the land and eventually we'll have some prairie restoration and habitat restoration," Kupar said. "There's a wide variety of habitat, oak savannas with 175-year-old trees, two creeks, a pond, woodlands, a wetland and a wide diversity of wildlife."
Kupar said the township has preserved 1,377 acres, spending nearly $40 million from the proceeds of two open space referendums, in 2001 and 2005. The money for Gray Willows Farm is the last of it. Some purchases were outright, others were conservation easements, which means the township bought the development rights so the land would always be open space, he said.
Jack Shouba, Campton Township's open space development coordinator, praised the purchase as a longtime goal.
"It's been high on our priority list just about from day one," Shouba said. "It's got everything we look for in open space. It's visible from the road. It's got those big old oak trees from the pre-settlement days. It has Ferson Creek and an intermittent creek that feeds into Ferson. It backs up to other open space."
Shouba said the township will appoint a committee to look at the farm and he will supervise volunteers to assess the trees, wildflowers and habitats.
"It looks like a big park, with big trees and rolling hills," Shouba said. "It's a big, beautiful parcel."
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