Visitor center at Goose Lake Prairie to be demolished

The Gunnar A. Peterson Visitor Center at Goose Lake Praire near Morris on Monday, July 7, 2025.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced Monday that the Gunnar A. Peterson Visitor Center at Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area in Grundy County will be demolished to build a new one.

According to a Monday news release, the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office has determined under the Illinois State Agency Historic Resources Protection Act that the new visitor center will “result in adverse effects to the existing visitor center, requiring mitigation prior to the demolition of the building.”

Anyone with comments or requests to become a consulting party can reach out to Jason Zemaitis at jason.zemaitis@illinois.gov within the next seven business days.

Michael Urbanec

Michael Urbanec

Michael Urbanec covers Grundy County and the City of Morris, Coal City, Minooka, and more for the Morris Herald-News