Kalyx Center for Sustainability

Nestled next to Allerton Park, just outside of Monticello, is The Kalyx Center for Sustainability–a charming rustic oasis in nature. A barn, a gathering place, a fire to gather around, a community gem. 

When you visit Kalyx, you drive down a long winding drive until you come across what appears to be an old horsebarn. The barn is, in fact, an old horsebarn dating back to the 1800s, moved to this land in 1990-1991. On the inside, the barn now boasts beautiful weathered hardwood flooring from wall to wall, and stained glass in some windows, including the giant central south-facing window. For more than 30 years this has been the site of hundreds of events, gatherings, nature hikes, bonfires, and community. Bill Taylor, the landowner and heart, mind, and muscle behind the operation, is a long-time fixture of the Champaign Urbana landscape, a founding (and still sometimes on-call) engineer of WEFT radio, a once-runner of the Red Herring and Channing Murray Foundation, a quiet pacifist and naturalist, though quite a talker if you get him going. The Kalyx Center also has a Board of Directors, as an incorporated non-profit 501c3. Over the decades Bill has supported a great range of events and gatherings on the land from mushroom log inoculations to solstice and May Day celebrations, from concerts to bird counts to album recordings and much more. For many gatherings Bill builds giant bonfires whose flames lick the heavens, leaping 30-50 feet in the air. It’s a truly magical natural gathering place. Check us out at https://kalyxcenter.wordpress.com/

With a focus on sustainability and community building, the Kalyx Center welcomes partnership and collaboration. Our seasons of operation are each spring and autumn, avoiding the bitter central Illinois winters and the sometimes punishingly broiling central Illinois summers. Have an idea? Want to host an art installation? A sustainability workshop? A performance? A retreat? Get in touch with us at kalyxcenter@gmail.com