City OKs Joseph Naper Homestead Park plan
The Naperville City Council approved plans Tuesday for Joseph Naper Homestead Park, but the signs marking the park's future site could be there for two or three years.
Rebuilt stone foundations will outline where Naper's log house, privy, trading post and two more homes used to stand at Jefferson Avenue and Mill Street. A pathway of permeable pavers will wind through the site, and interpretive signs will guide visitors through Naperville's history.
(Danielle Gardner/Staff Photographer)
The city also plans to commission two sculptures: one depicting Naper, and one depicting the Naper family trading with Native Americans.
Archeological digs on the site in 2006 and 2007 uncovered foundation elements of the buildings and more than 25,000 artifacts.
The city planned to apply for a $282,472 grant next year from the Special Events and Cultural Amenities fund to pay for the park's construction. A $25,000 SECA grant already has paid for $19,000 in design and engineering by the Hitchcock Design Group, and the remainder has been designated for about $5,000 in archeological consulting and about $1,000 in fees for sculptors' preliminary design sketches.
Councilman Doug Krause suggested the city delay building the park and instead close its budget deficit and reserve SECA funds for groups that need the money more. Councilman Paul Hinterlong agreed.
"We don't need to do anything right now given our situation with the economy," Hinterlong said. "The property has looked that way for years and years and years, and there's no reason not to wait a couple (more) years. We'd love to do something for our founder, and now is not the time, unfortunately. But the day will come to make that corner as we see it and honor our founder as well."
