The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is excited to announce that its nationally renowned wildlife treatment and education center in Glen Ellyn — formerly known as Willowbrook Wildlife Center — will reopen as the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center at Willowbrook Forest Preserve this fall.

The new moniker highlights the center's renewed emphasis on conservation and encompasses the wide range of other wildlife-related activities conducted there, including rehabilitation, propagation of endangered and threatened species, and public education about peaceful coexistence with our animal neighbors. The new name also firmly establishes the center in DuPage County, which is important as its national reputation continues to grow.

Currently undergoing extensive improvements as part of the Forest Preserve District's 2019 master plan, the center will feature a new 27,000-square-foot wildlife rehabilitation clinic and visitor center, the District’s first net-zero designed building. This facility will generate more energy from renewable resources than it consumes, setting a new sustainability standard in the region.

Key features of the new DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center include new outdoor and indoor animal rehabilitation areas, interactive educational exhibits on the wildlife rehabilitation process, an outdoor classroom, an interpretive trail with wildlife observation areas, and outdoor activity spaces that demonstrate how to attract and live harmoniously with native wildlife. Existing staff offices will later be converted to lab space for expanded propagation of endangered and threatened species at the center.

The animal admittance area remains open throughout construction, ensuring continued care for injured and orphaned wildlife during the renovation period. The visitor center is slated to reopen to the public in late 2024.

This is not the first name change for the center. It was originally named Willow Brook in 1956 as a nod to Glencrest Creek that flows through the preserve and later renamed Willowbrook Wildlife Center in 1993.