Daily Herald opinion: Patience could pay off for forest preserve

The Gladstone Ridge horse boarding farm near Wheaton has remained a green haven through the decades that DuPage County rapidly developed. Not far from large subdivisions and busy strip malls, the roughly 35-acre property along Leask Lane has pastures, lawns and patches of trees.

It is a place many would love to own, including the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. The forest preserve district has wanted to buy the land from the Bolger family since 1987. However, the late Helen and Vincent Bolger never wanted to sell.

In March 1999, the forest preserve commissioners had to scrap plans to condemn the horse farm after the Bolgers waged a public-relations campaign that rallied public sentiment against the district obtaining the land by eminent domain.

Fast forward to today, and we see that patience has been rewarded, as the forest preserve district is negotiating a possible deal to buy the property from the Bolgers’ children. Last week, forest preserve commissioners authorized district leaders to negotiate and enter into a contract to purchase Gladstone Ridge. The cost is anticipated to be $12 million.

Acquiring the site would allow the district to maintain an open space link between the Danada Forest Preserve near Wheaton and the Morton Arboretum in Lisle. Gladstone Ridge sits between the two properties.

Forest preserve President Daniel Hebreard told our Katlyn Smith that the district likes to add to existing preserves because there are “really not large tracts of land” in DuPage any longer. Connecting a forest preserve and the arboretum would enhance the public enjoyment and quality of those two large parcels of open space.

However, it’s up to the Bolger family to decide if and when to sell, a matter that has required some adaptation to circumstances. In January 2022, the forest district board authorized its administrators to negotiate a purchase, but last fall, the Bolger family asked the district to rescind the resolution, saying negotiations had broken down and the presence of the resolution was discouraging other potential buyers.

Last December, the family filed a lawsuit against the forest preserve district that claimed the two sides were at least $4 million apart on a price. The forest preserve board rescinded its resolution, and the family dropped the lawsuit several weeks later.

But then there was a positive sign earlier this year.

Our Susan Sarkauskas reported in May that Shawn Bolger had called the district’s director and had “a nice conversation.” Since then, discussions have progressed between the parties regarding terms of a “mutually acceptable purchase contract,” according to a memo from district officials.

The sale of Gladstone Ridge is far from a done deal. But at least this time, district officials have waited for the family to be receptive to their approaches, instead of trying to force the issue.

Thanks to such patience, the forest preserve district has the opportunity to achieve an outcome everyone can be happy with - and that could be a major addition to outdoor enjoyment options for residents of DuPage County and throughout the suburbs.