'Great Day': Leaders Mark Transfer Of Tinley Mental Health Center Land

TINLEY PARK, IL. — With the blighted 280 acres of the Tinley Mental Health land now officially in their hands, Tinley Park-Park District officials celebrated and talked next steps Monday.

Local leaders, elected officials and environmental experts gathered on the property Monday to announce the official transfer of the land and the work ahead of them. As they spoke, a diesel storage tank was pulled from the ground in one corner of the deserted property—progress in motion.

The Park District closed on the property on Friday and has additionally received $15 million in state funds to complete environmental clean-up work, which began last fall and in the coming months will include razing all 45 buildings on the property to make way for redevelopment. A tour of the property Monday told a story of a small "village" within the village—buildings abandoned and frozen in time. Cracked roads winding through graffiti-splashed buildings with shattered windows and deserted recreation areas.

All of the buildings will eventually come down. One chapter's ending, juxtaposed against the sunshine of an unseasonably warm February day—and the start of something new.

"Today marks an historic day for the Park District of Tinley Park and our community," said Lisa O’Donovan, Park District Board Commissioner and Chair of the Remediate 280 Committee, which is overseeing clean-up of the site. "We are proud to be turning this blighted property into another reason to love Tinley parks."

The Park District paid $1 for the land, with $15 million in state funding secured to pay for the remediation of all 280 acres—starting first with environmental clean-up, vegetation cutting and overgrowth removal, and removal of underground storage tanks.

"We are incredibly excited to finally clean up this eyesore for Tinley Park," said Ashley Rubino, Park District Board Commissioner and Co-Chair of the Remediate 280 Committee. "We are thrilled that we can finally envision a day when we can provide recreational and park space for our community."

The Park District engaged Tetra Tech, which conducted an updated environmental assessment of the land to determine the extent of remediation needed. Tetra Tech's phase 1 report is available on the Park District’s website.

Homer Landscaping was brought in for the landscaping work and overgrowth removal to provide access to roads and buildings on the site and complete the clean-up process. Tanks will be removed within a week's time, officials said. Once the underground tanks are removed, clean-up work will move to removing asbestos and any other regulated materials in the vacant buildings on site and demolishing all buildings, officials said.

Officials said they will incorporate air quality testing measures throughout the material removal process, to ensure residents' air will not be impacted.

"Tinley Park families and residents can be excited about what the future holds now that the Park District of Tinley Park is working to redevelop this vacant site," said Sen. Michael Hastings. "I am thrilled to have helped the Park District take ownership of the property and look forward to seeing this property cleaned up for the community."

"This redevelopment project is years in the making, and I’m proud to have helped get the Park District of Tinley Park to this point," said Rep. Robert “Bob” Rita. "For the purchase price of only $1 and with $15 million in clean up funding from the state, this property can become a recreational draw for the community and entire Southland region."

"After more than a decade, we can celebrate progress finally being made on this long-vacant site," said Marie Ryan, Park District Board President.

The park district formally bid on the property, 7400-7600 W. 183rd St., in November 2022. As part of their bid, the organization gave a glimpse of its plans for the property, which is said to include a sports dome, hub of athletic fields, track and field facilities and open recreational space—plans they say received praise from more than a dozen legislators and public officials. Phase 1 includes a playground and sports facilities fully accessible for people living with special needs, multipurpose athletic fields, a domed sports complex with a full-size soccer field, a stadium with a track, a splash pad, concession stands, spectator stands, lighting, ample parking, as well as a pond, picnic areas and open green space.

A previous study by Tetra Tech in 2014 detailed the property as one with "a complex history and numerous environmental concerns." The report went on to list issues with the property, including asbestos-filled buildings, soccer fields atop toxic waste, leaking transformers, landfill areas and "drums of waste materials, potentially hazardous liquids, as well as debris areas," the report states.

Officials on Monday emphasized they have brought in expert consultants and are working closely with the IEPA to complete all work to decontaminate the land and make it safe for its next steps. In December 2023, officials tapped Tinley Park resident Michael P. Maloney to serve as project manager for the Park District to oversee remediation of the property. Maloney is the former President of Local Union 597, the largest pipefitters union in Illinois with more than 7,000 members in Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Also guiding the Park District’s cleanup efforts are environmental experts Renee Cipriano, former director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Elizabeth S. Harvey, an environmental attorney with Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP. The experts are "helping ensure the safety of environmental work done at the site as well as receive the IEPA’s stamp of approval to redevelop the site once the clean-up work is done," officials have said.

"What a day for the Park District of Tinley Park!" said Donald Cuba, Park District Commissioner. "This is truly a momentous day for us and the many residents who have wanted to see this blighted property revitalized for our community."

"As a longtime Tinley Park resident, I have waited many years to see this property turn into something more than overgrown and vacant," said Bernie O’Boyle, Park District Commissioner. "We are working to get through the clean-up process and redevelop this into a place everyone can visit and enjoy."

Once the property’s environmental clean-up is complete, park district officials will engage with the Tinley Park community to discuss ideas and feedback to redevelop the land. More information and updates about the Park District’s initial plans for the site can be found on its website.