Amphitheater to bring entertainment to Meadowbrook Nature Preserve

Chicago Tribune

18-05-2025

Poems, speeches and music christened the new $600,000 amphitheater at Meadowbrook Nature Preserve in Liberty Township on Thursday.
Shirley Heinze Lane Trust board member Dale Nichols read a few of his poems, and Gary Shakespeare Company President Stephanie Naumoff sang 'Misty,' the first song officially performed at the venue.
Nichols' poems included 'Barker Woods,' a tribute to the prior home of Shirley Heinze Land Trust. Save the Dunes now uses the Barker House – not to be confused with Barker Mansion – in Michigan City as its headquarters.
Barker Woods is now considered an old-growth forest, based on the age of the trees, but they were planted by the Barker family on acreage that was once farmland.
It's a tradition carried on by Shirley Heinze Land Trust, which has planted more than 50,000 trees, Executive Director Kris Krouse said.
The organization, based at Meadowbrook, has been acquiring properties to create nature preserves. 'Just this week, we exceeded the 4,000-acre mark,' he said Thursday.
The amphitheater is the final piece of a master plan for Meadowbrook, he said, and will offer 'top-notch programming.'
Art, theaters, music, retreats and meetings will be held there, Krouse said.
Among events this year are a cosplay event to meet critters brought by Humane Indiana Wildlife on June 14, a South Shore Brass Bad performance June 22, a look at fireflies – nature's fireworks – on July 5, a search for amphibians Aug. 2, a poetry writing workshop Sept. 20 and the Health & Harvest Fest on Oct. 25.
'We stand together at a destination thoughtfully created for schools and thought-based organizations to gather and learn in the great outdoors,' said Mark Lopez, senior advisor to U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan. 'This is more than a space. It's a welcome haven where families and friends can connect with nature through fun, celebration and meaningful shared experiences.
'At its core, this space stands as a reminder to celebrate, protect and preserve the natural world, not only today, but also for future generations,' he said.
Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs noted his ancestors were among the first white settlers in the county in 1835, at a settlement a few hundred feet from the site. 'It's really special to me,' he said.
When the county was looking at how to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds, 'this is exactly how that money should have been spent, staying outside, staying healthy and enjoying nature,' Biggs said.
Commissioner Barb Regnitz is a self-avowed outdoor enthusiast. 'People need to be physically active, mentally active and socially active,' she said.
The Meadowbrook site was home of Meadowbrook Girl Scout Camp beginning in 1963, replacing a previous site in Burns Harbor sold when Bethlehem Steel needed the site as part of its construction.
Barbara Crumpacker wielded the oversized scissors at Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony. She sat beside Briana Petty, a fellow Girl Scout but a generation younger.
Crumpacker's mother was one of the first Scout leaders to use the camp. 'She just has an affinity for this piece of property,' Crumpacker said. 'She was Mother Nature out here, and that's how a lot of people might remember her.'
'She's delighted that Shirley Heinze Land Trust has taken it over,' Crumpacker said. 'The outdoors is definitely her sanctuary.'
'It just seemed magical,' Crumpacker said.
Petty's mother was also a troop leader. 'This place holds a lot of memories,' she said. The girls cooked lunch over campfires, pumped the water from wells and took younger girls on their first overnight campout.
There used to be a cabin where the amphitheater now stands. Some of the original Girl Scout buildings remain.
'Handwashing station, latrines, don't drop anything down into the latrine,' Crumpacker said, recalling her Girl Scout days.
'When a storm rolled in, we would have to calm everybody down. Good times,' Petty said. 'This place definitely holds a lot of memories.'