Dale Hoppe was surfing the Internet one night when he came across a story that instantly had him worried: Governor Blagojevich had decided to close Lowden State Park to reduce the state budget. Hoppe wondered if he would still have a job since the road to get to the Lorado Taft Field Campus, where he is director, goes right through Lowden. He knew exactly where he would stop on the way to work the next day.

“My very first stop that morning was over at the park office,” he said. “I was told that one way or the other, we’d have access.”

That’s all he needed to hear. Whatever minor complications would come from the park’s closing didn’t matter: Lorado Taft would stay open.

The Oregon field campus, which is owned and run by NIU, serves as a facility for outdoor education, conferences and executive meetings. The campus’ 141 acres, 15 buildings and staff of 29 reside in a wooded area filled with ravines overlooking the Rock River.

“It’s really very pretty,” Hoppe said of the campus located 37 miles west of NIU.

Lorado Taft has been owned by NIU since 1951 when President Lesley Holmes, of the then Northern Illinois State Teacher’s College, purchased it as is, Hoppe said. From 1898 to 1942, it was known as the Eagle’s Nest Art Colony. One of the artists who worked there was famous American sculptor Lorado Taft.

Just about everyone who used Lorado for any reason visited the famous Blackhawk Statue, a 50-foot-tall concrete sculpture of a Native American created by Taft. Unfortunately, the statue is in Lowden and has been inaccessible since the park’s Nov. 30 closing.

“I really regret it closing,” Hoppe said of Lowden. “It’s an important element of the community of Oregon. The Blackhawk Statue is a major source of tourism revenue.”

Hoppe isn’t sure exactly why Lowden was one of the parks the Governor chose to close, but he has an idea. “This is a very Republican county,” he said, adding that the ratio is 10 to 1 in favor of Republicans.

Conference Coordinator Diana Dennis would like to see Lowden open again soon. “It hasn’t stopped our programming, but it hasn’t made it easier,” she said. “It may open in the future. We’re just hoping the near future; sooner rather than later.”

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