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History of Irons Oaks
 People often mistakenly leave off the “s” in Irons, thinking, perhaps, that two plurals must be an error. In actuality, Irons Oaks is named after the Irons family, former residents of rural Flossmoor since 1921, and generous donors of land, finances and volunteer time to the Center. In 1971, the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District purchased a portion of the former Betty Irons Outdoor Education Park on the north side of Vollmer Road, with the family donating an additional two acres. (They have since donated an additional 1.5 acres.) The Homewood-Flossmoor and Olympia Fields’ joint purchase of the old Bennett estate in 1978, which makes up the southern portion of the Oaks, completed the package for the 33-acre site that came to be known as Irons Oaks.
In 1916, A.M. Bates purchased 16 acres of land and built a summer estate complete with a tennis court, a cement pool and a 14-room mansion. Bates was the inventor of the paper “valve” bag, which replaced the “jute” bag for packing sugar, coffee, and other granular substances. His wealth brought social stature, and the family threw lavish parties and sponsored garden walks on site. In later  years, Bates’ son enjoyed playing polo in the open meadow area, housing his horses in the stable (where the Adventure Center used to suit up participants for the Ropes course or have lunch). In the 50’s, the Bennett family purchased the estate, rented out the Bates mansion, and lived in another large stucco house on an adjoining property. One of the draws for the park districts’ purchase of the property in 1978 was the Bates mansion, once hoped to be the new nature center building. Hopes were dashed in the early 1980’s, when the building was found to be structurally unsound and was torn down. The other stucco house was on a parcel of land not yet owned by the park districts. In the early 1990’s that land was finally purchased, but as fate would have it, that building was the victim of fire in 1993. One of the Ropes courses stands on that site today.  The old office building, in use from 1984 to 2001, was once the caretaker’s living quarters, with one of the “Native Prairie Plants” areas which still grow over the once magnificent pool. And the tennis court is now known as the Therapy Garden, where dozens of volunteers from both the South Suburban Special Recreation Association, students from local schools and other volunteers tended to the flower and vegetable boxes over the years.
The new Administrative Building on Western Avenue was completed in 2001. It houses offices for Administration, Adventure Center, Environmental Education, Community Programs, Irons Oaks Foundation and includes a small kitchen and reception area. The 1300 square foot room on the north side of the building is used for programming needs and is also available for room rentals for individuals or groups to hold parties, meetings or retreats.
  In June of 2005 the new two-story Discovery Center was completed and sits on the original foot print of the old stable; adding yet more available space for program and rental needs. The major purpose for this center is to house environmental hands-on technology to offer students and families a unique experience in researching native flora, fauna and wildlife here at Irons Oaks. This facility also provides much-needed programming space for Environmental Education, Community and Adventure Center programs. When not being used for Irons Oaks programming, this building is also available for rentals..
The Adventure Center Teams and Ropes Courses began operations in 1983. The nine-initiative Teams Challenge Course and 16-foot High Ropes Course with 10 elements has, over the years, grown to two comprehensive 30-foot High Ropes Courses, a Teams Challenge Course made up of 14 permanent elements and numerous portable elements that utilizes several acres of land, a Climbing Tower and has since added a 25-foot Power Pole. The Adventure Center is also now putting their team building knowledge and resources into specialized programs, seminars and mini-clinics throughout the year. “The Caring Classroom” will be their newest program offered for 2008 season.
The Environmental Education Department offers year-round environmental education, both on-site and outreach, programs to schools and the community and will now be reaching out to home schools as well. All programming encompasses state standards for appropriate grade levels in various subject matters.
Community Programs such as specialized summer camps, birthday parties and Scout programs have grown to include winter camps, Geo-caching, Spirits of the Oaks, Ride to Discovery; a program co-sponsored with the Foundation, and many others.
The Irons Oaks Foundation, the 501(c)3 Corporation since December of 1978, continues to raise funds to support all activities of the Irons Oaks Environmental Learning Center.
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