Altherr Nature Park

About the Altherr Nature Park

Altherr Nature Park was purchased in 2010. Since the purchase there has been two volunteer cleanup days to remove debris from the park. Eagle scouts have participated in three eagle projects that have also been a tremendous help with this parks progress. At the beginning of 2012 the parks department plans to begin removing existing buildings and prep the prairie area for future seeding with natural grasses. Plans for development of Altherr Nature Park include development and construction of the multi-moto trail that will run from South Street to Main Street as well as smaller trails that will run throughout the park. Development of a nature center is also included in the future plans of this park.

The History of Altherr Nature Park

The creation of Altherr Nature Park stems for a generous donation that was given to the community by the late William L. Altherr. It was Bill's wish that his gift be used for the creation of a family oriented nature park for the community of Monticello. To that end, Bill Altherr donated $638,061.14 to the Monticello Parks & Recreation Department and charged the Parks Board with the creation of the park.

This park is composed of two parcels of land. The city acquired both parcels on October 17, 2011. The first parcel - containing 9.8085 acres - was purchased from John Freeman for $206,779.00, and the second parcel – containing 6.734 acres - was purchased from Dave Fisher for the sum of $ 95,393.90. Combined, the two parcels that make up Altherr Nature Park total 16.5425 acres.

Since the parks acquisition, there has been two volunteer cleanup days to remove debris from the park. The eagle scouts have also participated in three eagle projects - being a tremendous help with progress of Altherr Nature Park. In the beginning of 2012, the Parks Department plans to remove existing buildings and prep the prairie area for seeding of natural grasses. Altherr Nature Park’s development will continue with construction of a multi-moto trail through the park from South Street to Main Street.

With funding available for the Altherr Nature Park, progress on designing illustrations has been moving forward. Illustrations have been created to represent what the future Nature Park is going to look like. The current project at hand is the conventional design of the Altherr Park Nature Center. The Nature Center’s proposed design will include a variety of activities, such as interactive wildlife identification, bird watching and informative presentations. The Nature Center will be a place for classes, families, and individuals to go and observe nature in its true habitat. The design for the Nature Center is an open floor plan that will accommodate a large number of people. The exterior of the building will look like an old train station due to the history and location of the building along the old Monon Railroad. An array of windows will cover the west wall for a view of the habitats. Altherr Nature Park will be an impressive park with prairie, woodlands, walking paths, and a variety of wildlife activities. When completed Altherr Park will be another outstanding park provided to our community through Monticello’s Parks System.