There is a possibility a river may run through the Exploration Station in its future at Perry Farm Park.

Preliminary drawings have been worked up by the company the Bourbonnais Township Park District had design its Storybook Forest room.

At the Board of Commissioners August Committee of the Whole meeting, Executive Director Mike O’Shea discussed preliminary designs for the river room by Wacky World Studios, located in Oldsmar, Florida.

Perry Farm Park is located along the Kankakee River.

The commissioners are using the district’s master plan as a guide to update and add to the Exploration Station

“So this concept would be to enhance a current room that we don’t use, that we use for storage right now primarily,” OShea explained. “The idea is to open that back up and have an under-the-Kankakee-River-type experience.”

It would be an educational experience for the kids so they can get an idea of what’s in the river, O’Shea told the board at its Aug. 25 meeting.

It’s another design to enhance an area that isn’t utilized,“ board President David Zinanni said.

“It’s going to teach about the river and Perry Farm. We have the money to make things better,” Zinanni said.

In June, the Bourbonnais Township Park District opened the Storybook Forest room. It replaced the iconic castle that had been at Exploration Station for decades.

The Storybook Room project cost $300,000, with half coming from the park district and the other half coming from a state tourism grant from the Illinois Department of Economic and Community Opportunity.

Wacky World Studios designed the room with input from the park district team, said Cherie Smolkovich, Bourbonnais Township Park District’s director of recreation and marketing, during the room’s grand opening.

O’Shea said grants and sponsorships would be a way to fund the river room project. The park district’s fiscal year begins Jan. 1. Some financing could come through general funds.

“We have consultants guiding us, and we will do our due diligence to try and utilize grants,” Zinanni said.

If the board moves forward, the project would be slated to open in late 2026 or 2027, O’Shea said.

Other areas of Exploration Station could be updated or added, but that is only a thought by the board.

“We’ll just do a little piece at a time and improve it that way,” O’Shea said.