Reprinted from:
     Pioneer Press, Thursday, October 22, 1998

On the right path
New accessibility trail helps get everyone closer to nature

     By Phil Brozynski, Staff Writer

The Alexander Stillman Nature Center in South Barrington continues work on an accessibility trail that director Mark Spreyer hopes will provide a total educational experience to all visitors, whether they use wheelchair, roll around in strollers or are otherwise unable to move about freely.

The initial 15 percent of the trail, completed in the fall of 1997, was made possible due in part to a grant of $8,000 from The Garden Club of Barrington.  That portion of the trail connects the west entrance to the platform by the pond.

This year, construction on the trail continued toward a second dock overlooking the center's pond.  The second dock will allow large groups to be divided into smaller groups that can then enjoy simultaneous pondside activities.

"An accessibility trail is designed to be accessible to all visitors whether they walk, ride in a stroller, roll in a wheelchair or are guided by a caregiver," Spreyer said.  "Last year, we completed the first phase of the trail.  This year's portion is nearing completion."

Overall, the trail is about 35 percent complete.  But it is already paying dividends for visitors.

"We had a group here from Roslyn Road School last spring and one of their students was in a wheelchair," Spreyer said.  "They really were able to involve him in everything they did.  People come here with strollers on the weekend, now they can get around, too."

"Part of that ties in with our  mission.  Our mission here is to provide a guided experience.  I really think the best way to educate is to have someone like me or one of the volunteers accompany a group. Because they're supervised, they can get more hands-on experience."

An accessibility trail will provide access to areas of the center that would not normally be passable for wheelchair-using visitors.

"Back when I was in school, handicapped people were all in one classroom," Spreyer said.  "They became isolated.  You used to have a situation if we brought a group and one of them was in a wheelchair, where could they go?"

"We want to provide a guided educational experience for every visitor," he added.

Rustic Setting

The trail is composed of compacted rustic granite.  Spreyer said a paved surface would be inappropriate in the center's natural setting.  Crushed limestone would have been cheaper, but it leaches into the soil and would change the soil's acidity.

"That could harm the wildflowers along the trail," Spreyer said.

Spreyer said he hopes to have the trail completed within three years.

"Every year we'd like to do another section, but how much we do, the rate at which we do it is tied to donations," he said.

Stillman is an entirely privately funded nature center receiving no federal, state, county or local tax money.  Children's groups and public visitors pay only a nominal fee for their educational trips and the expertise of Spreyer, who holds a master's degree in biology with an emphasis on ornithology.

Stillman is home to more than 200 species of birds, an assortment of deer, muskrat, red fox, red and gray squirrel, raccoons, possum, skunk -- "the usual suspects," Spreyer said -- butterflies and moths, prairie grasses, wetlands and woodlands.

"I want quality over quantity," Spreyer said.   "Although we are only 80 acres, we are not like some other nature centers that quickly reach caring capacity.  When you come out here, I like the fact that we're not overrun."

Stillman's growing wetlands also serve a pressing need in a suburban area that is being overwhelmed by concrete and development.

"A study recently indicated that in urban areas 85 percent or more of all wetlands are being drained," Spreyer said.  "In that kind of environment, any open space is helpful.  When so much is already gone, beggars can't be choosers."

Spreyer would like to see the accessibility trail expand beyond its present boundaries and the addition of a larger parking lot to accommodate more than a few cars. He does not, however, foresee the construction of a "center" on the property.

"The whole point of a 'nature center' is out there," he said, looking out at acres of woods, water and grasses.  "You come out here to see a nature center ... there it is."