Mastodon Lake Shoreline Restoration Project Groundbreaking Set

AURORA, IL — Mastodon Lake at Aurora's Phillips Park is on the heels of a restoration project that is expected to "greatly beautify" the body of water and attract more visitors to the city, officials said.

The lake is well-known in Aurora. During an excavation project in 1934 sponsored by the federal government's Civil Works Administration, workers found several American mastodon bones within the body of water. The 188-pound skull, six-foot-long tusk and 92-pound lower jaw — currently on display at the Phillips Park Visitor Center — were estimated to be between 10,000 to 20,000 years old.

The project is supported by a $4 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. City officials said the funding will alleviate the cost of the project on the city's stormwater management fund.

The local veteran-owned Semper Fi Land Services Inc. was hired to work on the lake. The project includes reshaping the bottom of the lake, creating stone access points for visitors, stabilizing the shoreline with limestone outcroppings, and installing aeration fountains, directional circulators and plantings that will filter runoff into the lake.

Semper Fi will also construct a four-to-seven-acre urban filter strip to assist in filtering stormwater that moves through the area. Down the line, workers will also create emergent wetlands with 10,000 plantings, develop micro-pools to establish more depth to encourage water flow, and install mechanical aerators to move water.

Discussions to improve Mastodon Lake began in 2019, when Aurora hired HR Green Inc. to develop a master plan for the body of water. The city's Public Works Department and Parks and Recreation Division have since worked with consultants to formalize the scope of the project and chart out a plan to fund it.

Aurora is set to host a ground-breaking ceremony at 1 p.m. Aug. 12 to commemorate the start of the dredging and shoreline restoration project.

"Mastodon Lake is such an important piece of Aurora's history," Mayor John Laesch said in a statement. "I am appreciative of City staff's work on this project, along with the support of State Rep. Hernandez, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and Semper Fi. We are looking forward to seeing Mastodon Lake restored, while continuing to attract visitors from across Aurora and beyond."