Forest Preserve District of Will County expected to add on to Lake Renwick facility

JOLIET – Officials at the Forest Preserve District of Will County want to make maintenance operations more efficient by adding on to a substation building at Lake Renwick Preserve in Plainfield.

The district’s Board of Commissioners is considering a $183,000 contract with a company to construct the metal pole building addition. The building structure itself is estimated to cost $85,000.

In 2006, the district built the Lake Renwick maintenance and operations substation to accommodate staff and equipment used to maintain preserves in the northern and western parts of the county. The facility was sized to house a number of crews but included plans for a two-bay addition when the need arose and another existing facility in Romeoville became obsolete.

The addition at Lake Renwick will allow maintenance and operations staff currently housed at the Isle a la Cache maintenance barn in Romeoville to be relocated to the Lake Renwick site.

“It will be much more efficient for equipment sharing as well as having all our people in one spot,” Forest Preserve District of Will County Chief Operations Officer Ralph Schultz said, adding time is sometimes wasted with crews going between the Plainfield and Romeoville facilities for different pieces of equipment.

It also allows for the planned expansion of visitor facilities at Isle a la Cache in 2018.

Schultz said an old pole barn at Isle a la Cache will be the new location for events at the site, which hosts many school field trips and events each year that bring in thousands of kids.

“The public will get to use one site more [Isle a la Cache] and another [Lake Renwick] has improved efficiency,” Schultz said.

The Forest Preserve District of Will County Board of Commissioners will vote Thursday on the purchases.