Farewell, Exploration Station Castle

Dawn and Don Kirk had not visited the Exploralot castle in 20 years, but when they heard a farewell party was being thrown for the beloved children’s museum exhibit, they drove an hour with their now-adult son to see it one last time.

Julius Kirk, 27, and his twin brother were born two weeks after the grand opening of the Exploration Station at Perry Farm Park, which became the permanent home of the local children’s museum Oct. 25, 1997.

“I have whole picture albums of coming here,” said Dawn, of Crown Point, Ind., who used to regularly make the 40-mile trip with her four children to the Exploration Station.

“We remember all the old exhibits,” she said. “There’s nothing the same, except for the castle.”

More than 100 guests attended the Friday-evening bash to bid farewell to the two-story, medieval play fixture that connected generations of area residents.

Children got in one final playtime while adults reminisced about visiting the castle in their youth.

For Julius, his favorite memories included playing on the drawbridge and crawling in the dungeon.

Almost three decades later, the BTPD will take down the castle to make way for a new, storybook-themed exhibit.

Thanks for the memories

Celeste Tabor, of Kankakee, remembers playing dress-up with the costumes in the castle when she was a child. She now brings her 1- and 2-year-old kids to play there.

“I’m sad to see it go, but excited to see something new,” Tabor said.

Brittany Duncan, of Grant Park, used to come to the Exploration Station on field trips and now brings her 9-year-old daughter.

While Duncan remembers the castle fondly, she thinks it’s good to bring in something new to keep kids interested.

“We’re happy they’re not closing [the museum] down or anything,” she said.

Adele Hinze, of Bourbonnais, a front desk worker for the BTPD, said her grandkids want to come to the Exploration Station and play in the castle every time they are in town.

“It’s a fun place for the kids to play and use their imaginations and explore,” Hinze said. “I’m excited to see what the new exhibit looks like.”

Geena Davis, of Kankakee, has lived in the area for about seven years and brings her child to play in the castle.

Although she doesn’t have any memories of playing there herself, Davis said it was neat to see how nostalgic the community felt about the exhibit.

“I’m just excited, because if they came up with something this cool that many years ago, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next,” Davis said.

Out with the old, in with the new

The castle’s teardown is slated to begin today.

Mike O’Shea, Bourbonnais Township Park District executive director, said the project to replace Exploralot with the Storybook Adventure exhibit began in 2023.

The BTPD is working with the company Wacky World, of Florida, on the $300,000 project, which is being funded with a $150,000 state of Illinois tourism grant, as well as $150,000 of the park district’s funds.

The concept is to bring storybooks to life, with classic children’s story characters such as Peter Rabbit, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland being represented.

The exhibit will include a tree house and interactive features such as a river and toy bow-and-arrow. It is also designed to be safer than the former exhibit and handicapped accessible.

O’Shea said the project should be completed sometime this spring.

“It will be something really nice and really unique to the area,” he said.

While some community members have expressed sadness to see the castle go, O’Shea said he hopes the new generation will enjoy and remember Storybook Adventure for the next 30 years.

The bittersweet reactions mean people have been enjoying the park district, he said.

“It’s what you want as a park district, for families to come back, generations coming back to experience stuff like the castle here and the Exploration Station as a whole,” O’Shea said.

Cherie Smolkovich, BTPD director of recreation and marketing, said families have been coming in to take pictures with the castle since plans for the farewell party were shared two weeks ago.

“It’s been loved by a lot of different families,” she said. “You can see why everyone has a sentimental attachment to the place. Even I do.”

Jeff Mullinax, BTPD Board of Commissioners member, said he has seen a lot of chatter on social media from community members who want the castle to stay.

But, he has seen positive feedback on the new project, as well, especially after people see the design for what is to come

“It’s still the same concept,” he said. “You climb through it, you play in it. I know people grew up [with the castle]; they played in it, and their kids played in it. I’m a firm believer of adapting with the times.”