Willoughby Farm's Fall Calendar Arrives Before the Fixes in Its Master Plan Do

Four events will draw bigger crowds than usual to Willoughby Farm between Oct. 3 and Nov. 6. They include a family festival with baby Highland cows, a Friday barn dance and a 21-and-over bonfire night with a local brewery pouring. All of them take place at the 631 Willoughby Lane farm that Collinsville City Council voted on April 28 to improve under a five-phase master plan. That plan is estimated at $6.5 million. The plan's list of problems includes insufficient parking, erosion, faded trail signs and buildings that are sound but aging. As of early October, we found no grant, contract or construction start reported since that vote. The farm hosting this fall's crowds is the farm as it stands today, so a little planning goes a long way.

The fall dates, side by side

The Family Festival is the busiest of the four, and it changes how the farm works for the day. Willoughby is normally a free public park. On Oct. 3, though, the $5 entry charge covers everyone older than 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. That means a regular trail walk that morning costs the same as a festival visit. The city lists face painting, a balloon artist, a bracelet bar, crafts, a straw maze and the farm animals. There's a K-9 demonstration at noon, and baby Highland cows from Power Highland Haven will be there for petting and photos. Crafters, a food truck and specialty drinks are also planned, and the event goes on rain or shine.

The Boot Scootin' Boogie Barn Dance has a set schedule. Doors open at 6, a dance lesson starts at 6:30 and dancing runs from 7 to 10. Admission is paid at the door, and food and drinks will be for sale.

Barnyard Buddies is a hands-on class about getting the animals ready for winter. Kids visit and handle the animals, take measurements and go over feed charts. The group meets at the Gindler Barn breezeway, and the city suggests closed-toe shoes and a water bottle. The registration page showed only 10 open spots when we checked.

Bonfires & Brews is the only one of the four with named vendors. Old Herald Brewery, Sun's Up Coffee and Gateway Convention Center Catering will handle drinks, a food truck is still to be announced, and The BARn Stormers will play live music. Axe throwing is included with admission, and there's cornhole too. Guests need a valid ID, and you can't bring your own alcohol. Old Herald is a local business at 115 E. Clay St., and its own site pairs its beers with food from Press House.

Fifty parking spaces and a capacity cap

Bonfires & Brews tells you something the other listings don't. The city says capacity is limited and encourages advance registration, and group tickets are on sale. Registering early also saves $5 per person compared with paying at the gate.

Parking is the other limit. The farm's FAQ lists room for 50 cars, with ADA parking next to the farmhouse. The consultant who wrote the master plan called that parking insufficient. Expanding and rearranging the lot, adding a second lot and paving trailheads are all in Phase 2 of the final plan. We found no funding or construction reported for that work, so if you're going with neighbors for the festival or the bonfire night, carpooling is the simple fix. The city also says scheduled rentals and events can close the farm to everyday visitors. Check the Parks & Recreation calendar before you head over for a regular walk.

The city's own hours don't quite match from page to page. The main farm page says 9 a.m. to dusk, seven days a week. The hours page says the farmyard and trails are open sunrise to sunset, and the office is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. As the days get shorter in October, plan on dusk.

The everyday farm the plan is built around

On a normal day there's no ticket and no lineup. The city describes the property as a 1940s farm setting with tractors, barns, the farmhouse, live animals and more than 30 acres of preserve and trails. Lawrence Group, the plan's consultant, puts the whole site at 42 acres. There are three trails, Yellow, White and Red, each at a different difficulty level, and leashed dogs are welcome. The city's list of animals includes donkeys, a heifer, chickens and goats. You can also tour the farmhouse, and there's a playground with open space to play.

Two details rarely make the usual "things to do in Collinsville" lists. The first is a free plant-and-produce exchange table outside Willoughby Garden, set out from April through November. You can take, leave or swap whatever is in season, which makes November the last month to bring extra squash or a divided perennial. The second is Volunteer Wednesdays, a drop-in shift from 9 a.m. to noon. Volunteers help with maintenance, gardening, animal care, trail upkeep and programs, and University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners are on hand.

The farm's story begins with one family. A historical marker on site says Joseph "Boss" Willoughby and his wife, Hannah, bought the land around 1922. They farmed it for more than 70 years and raised seven children there, along with an orchard and flower and vegetable gardens. The property was sold in 2002 to become a public park. Lawrence Group says the city has owned and run it since 2018.

What the April 28 plan would change

The final plan has five phases. Phase 1 covers the farmyard you walk through at every event:

• Widen Willoughby Lane and add a sidewalk
• Build a farm gateway at the entrance
• Add covered displays for the preserved farm equipment
• Improve accessibility across the site
• Update the covered picnic area and children's play zone
• Replace the playground equipment

Phase 2 handles parking and infrastructure, and Phase 3 handles trail signs and landscaping. The largest building project, a new 7,800-square-foot climate-controlled multipurpose building, comes in the final phase, along with heating and cooling upgrades and a kitchenette for the Bank Barn. Landscape architect Jordan Wilkinson described what the plan is meant to protect:

"We aimed to keep Willoughby Farm's core principles at the forefront of this process – to showcase 1940's farm life, natural resource conservation, sustainability, and education."

The plan also comes with an operating budget. When the draft was presented on April 14, the Troy Times-Tribune reported that the farm's current expenses for staff and operations are $522,400. At full build-out, that would rise to an estimated $828,528. The higher figure includes a full-time maintenance worker, a full-time programmer and a 75% increase in part-time staff. The consultant also recommended setting a formal cost-recovery goal and marketing the farm more widely. Ticketed nights like the barn dance and Bonfires & Brews already fit that model.

Fifty people answered the city's survey. Their top requests were better animal habitats, a better children's play area, trail updates and ADA accessibility. Lawrence Group notes that cities often use master plans to apply for grants and justify capital budgets. In the city council's records, the April 14 update and the April 28 adoption are still the latest items on Willoughby Farm, and we found no contract or construction start reported since.

Making a day of Saturday, Oct. 24

The last Saturday of October lets you pair the farm with downtown. Barnyard Buddies wraps up at 10:30 a.m. at the Gindler Barn. Navigation Church's Uptown Collinsville Fall Festival runs on Main Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. It has trick-or-treating, a chili cook-off, a children's costume contest, bounce houses and carnival games. A child in the farm class can still make the costume contest in town, and Old Herald on East Clay Street is a short trip for the adults afterward.

Collinsville is our home base, and Willoughby Farm is one of the places we suggest when new neighbors ask where to spend a fall Saturday. If you have questions about the city's plans for the farm, or about any other Collinsville project going through city council, Wylde Realty Team is happy to share what we know. Contact Us anytime.