Cantingly Park’s new formal gardens north of the Visitors Center are open to the public. The work is part of the park’s ongoing Project New Leaf renovation.

COUNTY

New dispatch center dedicated; serves 44 agencies

DuPage County, DuPage Public Safety Communications and DuPage Emergency Telephone System Board have dedicated the new DU-COMM 9-1-1 Communications Center. The center, now the largest consolidated public safety communications center in Illinois, occupies more than 30,000 square feet of new construction and renovated space at the former DuPage Juvenile Detention Center on the county campus in Wheaton.

DU-COMM is a Public Safety Answering Point and intergovernmental agency that serves 44 police, fire and emergency services agencies in the county. Through countywide consolidation efforts, DU-COMM increased its membership, outgrowing its current facility.

As part of an intergovernmental agreement among the organizations, the cost of the project is being divided among DU-COMM, DuPage County, and the DuPage ETSB. DU-COMM will repay a portion of the funds as part of a 25-year lease agreement with the county.

Construction of the $15.8 million center finished in 18 months. It has a combination of renovated space and new construction, totaling nearly 34,000 square feet. The facility is nearly 34,000 square feet, resistant to high winds and hazardous weather, and includes vital internal safety measures. It features updated dispatch equipment and has space for future expansion, providing a 25-year solution for the agency’s needs.

A school is wanted for Cool Yule

Cool DuPage is seeking an elementary school to partner with the county’s Cool Yule project.

The project provides an opportunity to make recycled or reused ornaments to showcase at the county complex. St. John’s Lutheran School in Lombard volunteered to be the 2017 Cool Yule partner and assisted in decorating the county’s holiday tree with ornaments. District 93 ornaments were reused to continue the Cool Yule tradition. Check out their creativity by following Cool DuPage on Facebook or Twitter, @cooldupage.  Schools interested in being a partner should contact the DuPageCounty Environmental Division at recycle@dupageco.org.

Donations of universal blood types wanted

If you are blood type O Negative or O Positive, then LifeSource is asking that you donate blood at one of its 17 Community Donor Centers. In DuPage County, centers are in Naperville, Westmont and Villa Park.

The blood center has reported a critical shortage on the supply of blood locally, especially for these two important types.

O Negative blood cells are called universal, meaning they can be transfused to almost any patient in need. Only 6.6 percent of the population has O Negative blood. In the event of an emergency, trauma patients and accident victims are given O Negative blood transfusions. Also, O Negative red blood cells are safest for newborn infants with under-developed immune systems.

O Positive is the most common blood type; approximately 1 in 3 people have it.

LifeSource urges both first-time donors and existing donors of all blood types to visit LifeSource.org or call 877-543-3768 to schedule an appointment to donate. All participating donors from July 20-Aug. 20 who say the code word “Sox” will be entered into a random drawing to win a pair of tickets to the Chicago White Sox Sept. 8 game and a baseball signed by White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.

LISLE

Music festival puts local talent in the spotlight

The sixth annual celebration of DuPage County-nurtured musical talent will be held July 21.  The festival – billed as the biggest celebration of the local music and art from Chicago’s West Suburbs – touts its numbers: three stages, 20 bands, 10 acoustic artists and 15 artistic vendors. The 12-hour festival will run from 1 p.m.-1 a.m., at BaseCamp Pub & Eatery, 5750 Lakeside Drive, Lisle. Tickets are $15. Details are at homegrownartsandmusicfestival.com.

WHEATON

Cantigny reopens redesigned gardens

A key milestone in Cantigny Park’s ongoing Project New Leaf renovation was reached last week when the park’s redesigned and replanted gardens reopened to the public. The gardens at Cantigny, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton, had been closed since fall 2017.

According to Cantigny officials, the gardens are fresh and new, but still reflect the vision of Franz Lipp, the renowned landscape architect who designed and planted them in the 1960s and ’70s.

Located north of the visitors center, the gardens feature several distinct elements:

• Rose Garden. This display, featuring 60 rose varieties, maintains the geometric pattern of beds and stone inlay walkways of the original Lipp design. The space includes rose trellises, a gazebo, an nannyberry viburnum open lawn for wedding ceremonies and a surrounding 7-foot privacy hedge of Japanese yew.
• White Garden. This garden features a myriad of white flowering plants in a formal setting with boxwood and yew hedges.
• Perennial Border. This 250-foot-long perennial garden lines a newly lit brick pathway connecting Cantigny’s north parking lot with east side attractions of the property, including the McCormick House. More than 75 species of perennials and grasses comprise the wide variety of native and nativar plants featured in color waves.
• Lower Display Garden. Historic statuary representing the four seasons punctuate this garden featuring Lipp’s geometrically shaped flower beds and pathways.
• Pollinator Garden. These beds are devoted to sustaining pollinator health, and to the important work of bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and even flies.
• Pond Garden. This 2-acre area, north of the display gardens, opened in May. The pond is larger than before and now offers access to the water via steps and a boardwalk.

–DuPage County News Briefs–