Ten months after taking over the vacant Tinley Park Mental Health Center property, the Tinley Park Park District said it is making progress on removing hazardous materials and preparing the building for demolition.
In September, the district hired Omega III to perform environmental remediation and demolition at the site, located northwest of Harlem Avenue and 183rd Street.
The park district took ownership of the 280-acre site in late February and said in an update on cleanup efforts that remediation work, including removing asbestos and other materials, will begin in October and continue through 2025. .
Some of the most prominent buildings on the site, closest to the Harlem/183rd intersection, are among the first to be demolished.
The district is also working with the company to remove weeds and install safety fencing on the property, which has remained essentially untouched for more than a decade.
Under an agreement with the state, the park district paid $1 for the land, and the state allocated $15 million to clean up environmental hazards and demolish more than 40 buildings.
The site includes a closed mental health hospital and the adjacent Howe Developmental Center. The Park District initially plans to redevelop 90 acres of Howe Center. The hospital closed in 2012.
The park district is envisioned in its initial stages to include five baseball fields, six multipurpose fields, a domed soccer field, a stadium with a running track, an accessible playground, and a pond.
The district is working with Tetra Tech, which updated a study it conducted on Tinley Park in 2014. At the time, the company estimated the cost of cleaning up the site and demolishing the structure would be $12.4 million.
The land was once considered for a harness racetrack and casino, but language in a bill signed last summer by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to clear the way for its move to a park district means the land could be used for gambling. It was prohibited to do so. the purpose.
Tinley Park had hoped to purchase the land from the state with an eye toward redevelopment and retail and recreational uses that would generate sales tax revenue for the village.
In late September, the park district secured $15 million allocated by the state of Illinois to prepare for redevelopment by contracting for asbestos removal and demolition and contracting with another company to monitor air quality during construction. He announced that he had used up almost all of his US dollars. .
The park district said it will request additional state funding to complete the complete demolition of the structure and soil sampling that will be required as part of the Illinois Department of Environmental Protection’s site remediation program.
The goal is to obtain approval from IEPA that once the site is cleared, no further remediation is required and redevelopment can proceed.
In late September, as restoration and demolition contracts were being approved, park district officials expressed confidence that the state would provide additional funding.
The first asbestos removal and demolition target will be the buildings closest to Harlem and 183rd Street, including the large circular Spruce Hall, which contains the medical center, and the large administrative facility facing 183rd Street.
Spruce Hall was forced into use to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina and served as a dormitory and general living space.
Maple Hall, a high-rise building located between Spruce Hall and the Administration Center, is also targeted as one of the first structures to be demolished.
