9/3/25
Today, our guest speaker was Jeff Gahris, District 4 Commissioner, Forest Preserve District of DuPage.
Situated at 1017 St. Charles Rd, Glen Ellyn, it was constructed in 1936 as the original headquarters for the Forest Preserve District. It has been abandoned since 1994 and fallen into serious disrepair. Rather than demolish it, the current plan is to restore the building and develop the site as The Native American Cultural & Environmental Center. The historical link: the site was home to a large Potawatomi village dating to the late 1600s. This very ambitious undertaking is being supported by the Forest Preserve District, the Village of Glen Ellyn, the McKee Preservation Group, and the Midwest SOARRING Foundation.
To learn more, there are two informative websites:
- https://www.mckeehouse.org/
- https://fundthecenter.org/the-vision/
