The Oak Lawn Park District is one of 22 member agencies of the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) to receive the State’s Fiscal Year 2012 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  The Oak Lawn Park District was awarded a grant of $200,000 for Chicago Ridge Prairie, 105^th and Menard Ave., on Saturday, June 23, at the Chicago Park District.

With this grant, the park district wishes to accomplish the following project elements:

• Re-establishment of 5 acres of the original 12-acre prairie wetland topography and soil conditions. 
• Management and weedy control of a 7-acre high quality portion of the site. 
• Planning and development of public access, security and interpretive facilities in order to complete an eco-system education area (this will be the first complete outdoor educational facility for the park district).

The Chicago Ridge Prairie is a 12.8 acre Illinois State Nature Preserve purchased by the park district in 1994.

The park district would like to thank the DNR and Governor Quinn for making this wonderful opportunity possible.

For more information, please call 708-857-2225.