Kendall County Forest Preserve District trying to reduce Pickerill-Pigott Estate House renovation cost through donations

The Kendall County Forest Preserve District is trying to work out how to reduce the cost of renovating the estate house at the Pickerill-Pigott Forest Preserve in Yorkville.

District President Judy Gilmour says she’s working on getting some contractors to volunteer to take care of the some renovations to reduce the overall cost.

The forest preserve district had a meeting on Wednesday at the estate house with a group of contractors to discuss the work. While no commitments were made then, Gilmour thinks people are interested in helping.

The bids for the project, which came back in March, were above the district’s estimated $1.1 million budget by about $700,000.

Gilmour says the idea is to renovate the home to be used as an event venue that could be rented by the public. The district received a state grant worth over $800,000 for the renovation.

Part of the property, and the estate house, were donated to the district by Ken Pickerill, a well known Oswego High School coach.

The rest of the grounds, which include ponds, trails, and a pavilion, opened to the public last June.

Gilmour hopes to have the renovation of the estate house done by August next year.