Demolition of the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center is underway, with the village’s Park District looking to redevelop part of the property for recreational purposes and marking progress that has been made so far.
Three of the nearly 50 buildings on the site have so far been taken down and, after a brief news conference Thursday, Park District officials ventured outside the confines of a warm tent to see a fourth demolished.
“We’ve navigated a complex process to get to this point,” said Michael Maloney, hired by the Park District to oversee the project.
Demolition so far is confined to smaller buildings at the northeast corner of the property, but will swing to the west to take in the residential buildings of the vacant Howe Developmental Center, part of the 280-acre property northwest of 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue.
The Park District bought the state-owned site late last February for $1, and work so far has included removing underground storage tanks and cleaning some buildings of environmental hazards such as asbestos.
The Park District initially plans to redevelop 90 acres of the Howe center on the west side of the property just east of Veterans Parkway and south of the Tinley Park 80th Avenue Metra station. The hospital closed in 2012.
The Park District envisions an initial phase with five baseball fields, six multipurpose athletic fields, a domed soccer field, stadium with running track, accessible playground and a pond.
The process has involved removing any environmental hazards from buildings then getting demolition permits from Cook County, Maloney said. Two more buildings are cleared for razing, he said.
Buildings that were part of the Howe Developmental Center, to the east of the Park District’s Freedom Park, are newer than the rest of the hospital property, and expected to involve less environmental remediation before being razed.
Maloney said at Thursday’s news conference work has included cutting back overgrowth on the 280-acre site and putting up security fencing.
State legislators earmarked $15 million for the park district to remove environmental hazards and demolish buildings. Maloney said since the hospital closed in 2012, there has been little to no maintenance at the site.
He said Park District officials are “committed to using only the state funding to complete this project.”
Maloney said so far about $2.2 million of the state money set aside has been spent.
He said the Park District could decide to do demolition and remediation on the 280 acres in multiple phases, focusing initially on the 90 acres where the sports fields are proposed.
A decision on that has not yet been made, Maloney said.
The Park District will, before any redevelopment can take place, need a sign-off from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that no further environmental remediation is needed. The Park District hired Renee Cipriano, the former director of the IEPA, to help shepherd the project through the review process.
Tinley Park had also looked to acquire the mental health center from the state, and looked to develop it for retail and entertainment uses that would generate sales tax revenue for the village.
The property was once considered as a site for a combination harness racing track and casino, but language in the legislation Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed last summer to clear the way for the transfer to the Park District would prevent the property from being used for gambling purposes.
Maloney is also seeking to become Tinley Park’s mayor, heading the Tinley Together ticket.
A Cook County judge recently restored the new party to the April ballot after a failed effort to kick candidates off.
