This project is on the 300-acre site of the Oak Forest Hospital that the Forest Preserves of Cook County purchased to convert into a historic preserve. The site has a 10,000-year history, the earliest record being a Clovis Point found on top of a glacial moraine on the east end of the property. There have been archaeological digs on the site as well, one unearthing remains of the largest Native American settlement in Northeast Illinois. Other than this prehistory, the site was also home to the original Oak Forest Sanitarium and Poor Farm, opened by Cook County in 1908, and a Potter’s Field. Evidence of its rich past as well as the remains of over 95,000 indigent Chicagoans are features this site “holds very close to
its vest” and would be kept secret from all who gazed across its landscape but for, interpretive storytelling at critical points along its winding trails. We were hired to develop a multi-phased interpretive master plan for the site which would lead to the design of interpretive exhibits at a new visitor center, introductory
entry signage along the roadways as well as interpretive and wayfinding signage and interactive elements along the trails.
its vest” and would be kept secret from all who gazed across its landscape but for, interpretive storytelling at critical points along its winding trails. We were hired to develop a multi-phased interpretive master plan for the site which would lead to the design of interpretive exhibits at a new visitor center, introductory
entry signage along the roadways as well as interpretive and wayfinding signage and interactive elements along the trails.
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