News and views about the proposed Lakewood Olympic Equestrian Center.

Welcome to a new regular feature in The Sentinel, Voice of the Horse Industry in the Midwest! We’ve initiated this column, Olympic Dreams, to regularly share news and views about the proposed Lakewood Olympic Equestrian Center with you, the thousands of members of the Midwestern Horse Industry.

Although much of the equestrian community, especially those that live in or near Lake County, IL are already familiar with this exciting prospect, we’ll start out with some basic background to familiarize everyone with exactly what’s going on here in our back yard. We also have an official communique from Lake County Forest Preserves and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee that they are sharing with the news media in the Chicagoland area.

Libertyville Saddle Shop and The Sentinel enthusiastically support the proposed Lakewood Olympic Equestrian Center and we offer this column as a means to inform our readership, both locally and throughout the Midwest, on the specifics of the project, create interest, and build support for hosting the Olympic equestrian venue here in Lake County, IL. We also seek to help enlighten the planners as well as the opposition to the wide variety of benefits that interaction with equines can offer, and the positive impact of the event itself, as well as the possibilities for the Equestrian Center after the Olympic games are over.

Additional information and updates about the proposed equestrian center will be available at http://www.lcfpd.org/2016 Olympics by the end of July. We invite your comments and input to this column. Please email: sentinel@saddleshop.com and include “Olympic Dreams” in your subject line, or write to:
The Sentinel, P.O. Box M. Libertyville, IL 60098.

The Bid
Chicago is bidding for the opportunity to host the 2016 Olympic Games and Paralympics and has been selected as the United States nominee for the international Olympic Committees selection process.

Lake County Forest Preserves agreed to join Chicago’s bid with a proposal to host equestrian events in a portion of the Lakewood Forest Preserve, near Wauconda.

Equestrian Venue
A $12.5 million equestrian venue would be constructed at Lakewood and paid for by private contributions. The facility would remain available for local use after the games. Additional temporary facilities for the Olympics would be funded by the International Olympic Committee.

Facilities: A combination of permanent and temporary structures. A new indoor riding arena, stables, road, parking and other infrastructure improvements would be permanent. An outdoor arena initially would seat 15,000 for the Olympics and then be downsized to 2,500 seats for future use.

Where: The proposed sight encompasses about 300 acres of the over 3,000 acres of the adjoining Lakewood and Ray Lake Forest Preserves. The area is aesthetically nice, but not an environmentally sensitive area. Ecological assessments for the proposed area have been done. Detailed planning for the cross country course and other facilities is underway to insure that everything is created in an environmentally sensitive way. The Lake County Forest Preserves are nationally known for their ability to balance nature preservation and public access.

Post-Olympics
The permanent portions of the Olympic venue, including the indoor arena and stabling area would become an equestrian facility available for equine-related activities including competitions, educational programs and therapeutic riding. Forest Preserves would license a private concessionaire with the necessary expertise to operate the facility.

Dear Editor:
In the race to win public benefits from Chicago potentially hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016, Lake County residents have been given an incredible headstart. With the help of private funding, a small farm field owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve District (LCFPD) would become a world-class equestrian facility during the 2016 Games, and afterward be converted into a unique community asset.

The equestrian center at Lakewood Forest Preserve would provide an incredible positive legacy that would benefit future generations, and cost taxpayers nothing. It would maintain and improve public access to miles of existing horse trails, and offer people, young and old, the opportunity to enjoy a classic Olympic sport. Additionally, the center would host therapeutic and adaptive riding programs to better serve the needs of area children and adults.

All of this will be done while maintaining the precious environmental balance of Lakewood Forest Preserve and showcasing the beauty of Lake County to the rest of the world.

LCFPD has been honored with regional and national awards for its ability to properly balance its multipurpose mission of preservation, restoration, education and recreation. As part of planing for renovation of Lakewood, the District had conducted an environmental assessment long before being contacted about the Olympics. The District had determined that the specific site proposed was not sensitive ecologically and was available for public use. Preliminary designs showed that the center could be created in a responsible fashion that would include buffers and other protections for the species in the area.

For these reasons and more, the proposal has received widespread support from people all over Lake County. Now that we are confirmed as the United States nominee, detailed planning can determine more completely how we will protect the environment and mitigate traffic and other concerns.

However, a small, but vocal minority who oppose bringing the Games to Lake County are attempting to derail the project. Some have made misleading statements. Some are opposed to any changes. Others have raised issues that the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee and the LCFPD already identified during our initial planning, or that our detailed planning will answer going forward. We take all of these issues seriously and are accelerating our normal assessment process to get answers to key questions as soon as possible.

Both the LCFPD and Chicago 2016 are committed to respecting the Forest Preserve environment while bringing positive benefits to the community. We look forward to working with all interested parties to develop a proposal that showcases the greatness of of Lake County and leaves a positive legacy for decades to come.

Sincerely,
Bonnie Thomson Carter,
President, Lake County Forest Preserve District
Patrick Ryan, Chairman & CEO,
Chicago 2016 Exploratory Committee