It’s not often that you come across a real-life
dynamic duo, but the Springfield community says that Butch Elzea and Diane
Mathis are it.
For the past 20 months the pair has met with
businesses, nonprofit agencies, and academic organizations from all across
the capital city and convinced them that the Edwin Watts Southwind Park
— an 80-acre “all-abilities” multiuse venue located near
the intersection of Interstate 55 and Toronto Road — is a project
that they should get behind. In a short time Elzea and Mathis have raised
nearly $14 million, formed a diverse range of partnerships, and launched
the first phase of the park’s construction.
Ray Roland, president of Roland Machinery Co., got
involved, he says, “right out of the chute” in November 2006,
when Elzea — whom he calls a lifelong friend — asked him to
help with the park’s lake. Not only did Roland donate the
construction equipment, he also recruited apprentices from Operating
Engineers Local Union No. 965 to build it and Halverson Construction to
oversee the project. Since then, Roland says, he’s watched as Elzea
and Mathis have approached every group in town, large and small, and
encouraged them to jump on board.
“Butch Elzea and Diane Mathis have been the
driving force behind this thing — they work it, work it, work
it,” Roland says. “This is a big deal. Someone has to be
driving the train, and these guys are doing it.”
Asked how they’ve done it, the two are modest.
Mathis answers: “We may spark the fire, but all of the flames
aren’t because of us.”
Elzea says he’s not sure how it happened, but
somehow the “moons have aligned.” When you know enough people
in the community, he explains, it’s easy to sell a worthwhile
project.
For Elzea, it doesn’t get any more worthwhile.
His daughter Erin, who had been confined to a wheelchair, died at the age
of 17 in 2000. Earlier this year Elzea sold his central-Illinois NAPA
auto-parts stores so he and his wife, Chris, could focus solely on
constructing a park that would meet anyone’s needs.
“We made enough money in the auto-parts
business, but that wasn’t a good enough focus,” Elzea says.
“Two years ago we really got into this. We had a special child, and
there are a lot of people who have special children, parents, grandparents,
brothers, and sisters. This seemed like the right thing to do.”
Mathis came on board with the Springfield Park
District specifically to help raise funds for Southwind Park. She commends
the park district and its board of trustees and says the project
wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without their willingness to try
something new.
“We have found a lot of different parks, a lot
of facilities that are universally accessible, and their focus is the same
as ours,” Mathis says. “We share a vision — but not to
this level of developing 80 acres and all these recreational
opportunities.”
The park district initially pledged $7 million to
Southwind through special recreation-tax funds and general-obligation and
revenue bonds and will expand its programming to include a
special-recreation department. The new agency will be located in
Erin’s Pavilion, a 15,000-square-foot building that will also serve
as the park’s welcome center. The pavilion, dedicated to
Elzea’s daughter, will be one of 38 buildings in the world to achieve
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification for
its renewable-energy efforts.
Mathis also praises the park district’s many
partners — from the Hope Institute for Children and Families to
Selvaggio Steel — for all of their contributions. It’s
progressive thinking at its best, Mathis says, to see public entities,
private businesses, academic organizations, and community-service groups
pulling together for one cause.
Terry Farmer, owner of Terry Farmer Photography, is
another partner who has been involved since the get-go. He wanted to help
with marketing efforts, so he took photographs of all of the people who had
donated to Southwind in some way and created a design that has been used on
posters, postcards, and even billboards in Springfield. Farmer has also
taken monthly aerial shots of the park to help Elzea and Mathis demonstrate
its progress to potential partners and donors.
Farmer’s latest contribution brings a few
others in the mix. He recently purchased Schlosser’s Country Garden,
a historical greenhouse operation, on Old Jacksonville Road. Because he has
no need for the greenhouse equipment, Farmer donated it to the Capital Area
Career Center. The equipment will be installed in the center’s
now-defunct greenhouse, and master gardeners will step in to oversee the
growing of plants, which will eventually be transferred to Southwind Park.
Farmer says his business has helped several area
nonprofits raise funds, but they’ve never been involved to this
degree. He doesn’t see his involvement stopping anytime in the near
future, he adds.
“It’s such a one-of-a-kind park,”
Farmer says. “It’s good for our community, it’s good for
business, and it’s a good draw for people all over central
Illinois.”
It is estimated that the Edwin Watts Southwind Park,
named for a pioneer who owned the land in 1901, will cost $30 million. Set
to open in 2009, it will include a 2.5-mile urban pathway, an outdoor
amphitheater and stage, a children’s museum, an indoor
recreation/sports complex, sensory gardens, picnic areas, three
playgrounds, a great lawn, sports courts, one of the world’s largest
windmills, and a Bellagio-style waltzing-waters fountain.
Elzea and Mathis say Southwind’s level of
accessibility will rival that of parks across the country and possibly
change the way of thinking in Springfield. A few of its innovative features
include a super tram for intrapark transportation, a color-coded navigation
system for people with cognitive disabilities, and respite centers with
heated/air-conditioned breezeways and shower facilities.
“This is maybe the second-biggest thing that
Springfield is going to have,” Elzea says. “The Lincoln Museum
and Library really changed the attitude of the community, and hopefully
this park will do the same thing as a national model.”
Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2008.
