The Danada Equestrian Center and the neighboring Gladstone Ridge farm have brought generations of horse lovers to the south side of . After several stalled attempts through the years, Danada’s owner — the Forest Preserve District of — is now on track to buy the pastoral property to its east. On Tuesday, forest preserve commissioners authorized district leaders to negotiate and enter into a contract to acquire the Gladstone Ridge horse boarding center — also known as Bolger Farm — along Leask Lane.
The cost is anticipated to be $12 million. “The proposed acquisition of this property, consisting of approximately 35 acres, accomplishes part of the district’s mission to acquire and hold lands capable of being restored to such natural conditions for the purpose of protecting and preserving the flora, fauna and scenic beauty of DuPage County,” forest preserve President Daniel Hebreard said. The district has been interested in buying the unincorporated property since the late 1980s.
Acquiring the site will preserve the open space link between the Danada Forest Preserve and the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Hebreard said. The district, he said, likes to add on to current preserves because there are “really not large tracts of land” in DuPage any longer. “It is that connection.
It’s really a key open space, part of DuPage here, through the center part, where you go from really Hidden Lake through the arboretum to Danada, and it just continues going west and then n.