Aurora Launches $5.2 Million Mastodon Lake Restoration Project

AURORA, Ill. -- The city of Aurora kicked off a major restoration of Mastodon Lake in Phillips Park with a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, setting in motion a $5.2 million project that officials say will return the long-neglected body of water as a place for recreation and wildlife alike.

The effort is being led by a local contractor with a family tie to the site. The city hired Roberto Valazquez, of Semper Fi Land Services Incorporated, to head the project. His father, Rudy Valazquez, a lifelong resident of the East Side of Aurora, attended the ceremony and described what the lake meant to a generation of East Aurora High School students.

"This was the place to hang out," Rudy Valazquez said. "Over the years it did get neglected, but for them to be bringing it back and for my son to get the job, it is just rewarding."

A $4 million state grant will fund a large part of the project, according to officials. State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, helped designate a one-time grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"I grew up here, so I I always want to make sure we can maintain our public parks, our community and so that future generations can enjoy it too," Hernandez said.

The project aims to clear sediment and decaying matter from the bottom of the lake, improve water quality and habitat conditions, reduce erosion, and add recreational features and native plants. The first step is dredging, which Semper Fi began a couple of weeks ago and plans to finish later this fall.

Roberto Valazquez explained why the deeper basins matter. "Lesser quality water, warmer water, means less aquatic life," he said. "By dredging it out and creating deeper water, creates cooler water and a better habitat."

After the dredging, the company will begin shoreline restoration, with plans to finish by next summer. That work will use stabilized limestone outcroppings to mitigate erosion and create cleaner, more accessible entry points to the water.

Additional elements include a four- to seven-acre urban filter strip to clean stormwater moving through the area, the creation of emergent wetlands through 10,000 plantings, the development of micro-pools to add depth and encourage water flow, and the installation of mechanical aerators to prevent the water from stagnating. New access points, fishing piers, and canoe launches are also part of the plan. Residents could begin enjoying the upgrades as soon as next summer, Valazquez said.

"We will have a much cleaner, clearer, beautiful lake to enjoy, and what I really am looking forward to is seeing children casting their fishing lines in for the first time," Aurora Mayor John Laesch said at the ceremony.

Discussions to improve the site first began in 2019, when the city engaged HR Green Inc. to develop a master plan and then worked with consultants to formalize the scope and funding.

The lake has a name rooted in its own history. During a federal excavation project sponsored by the Civil Works Administration in 1934, workers uncovered mastodon bones. Those artifacts, including an 188-pound skull, a six-foot-long tusk, and a 92-pound lower jaw, are estimated to be between 10,000 and 20,000 years old and are on display at the Mastodon Gallery within the Phillips Park Visitor Center.