From Trash to Tunes Landfill Could Become Kane County’s Ravinia

By Lisa Smith Daily Herald Staff Writer

Tunes would replace trash at the shuttered Settler’s Hill landfill in Geneva under a plan unveiled Tuesday.

A 3,000-seat outdoor music theater to rival Ravinia and a trail system leading to a celestial observatory at the landfill’s 900- foot summit were highlights of the proposal reviewed by a Kane County Board panel.

Prepared by Geneva-based planning firm Lannert Group, the drawings are the most detailed officials have discussed for the future of the 200-acre landfill site. Settler’s Hill closed in December after more than two decades in operation.

The plan also depicts a sledding hill, outdoor skating rink, radio-controlled glider airplane field and parking space for 2,500 vehicles.

The music theater and performing arts center would be built near a small lake near the base of the landfill. A preliminary evaluation indicates the acoustics would be conducive for a theater, county development director Phil Bus said.

“It is fashioned somewhat after Ravinia,” Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said, referring to the Highland Park theater.

Members of the Fabyan Property Utilization Subcommittee also discussed redevelopment plans for the adjacent 26-acre county jail site. The jail would be demolished to make way for a hotel/ convention center, a senior housing complex and an office campus under a proposal submitted in December by Chicago-based DLK Civic Design.

The site will be redeveloped after the jail and sheriff’s office relocate next year to the new facility under construction in St. Charles Township.

It could take longer for the Settler’s Hill redevelopment to move forward because the shutdown process is expected to last two years.

Cost estimates have not been developed for either redevelopment project.

lsmith@@dailyherald.com

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