As they consider a budget for the 2026 fiscal year, officials with the Tinley Park-Park District are working to estimate how much more state money they’ll need to complete a cleanup of formerly state-owned land.
The 280-acre property, northwest of Harlem Avenue and 183rd Street, encompasses the shuttered mental health hospital and adjacent Howe Developmental Center.
The Park District initially plans to redevelop 90 acres of the Howe center. The hospital closed in 2012.
The Park District gained control of the site in February 2024, and remediation, including removal of environmental contaminants, and demolition of some buildings has been underway since last fall.
The state earmarked $15 million the Park District could use for cleanup of environmental issues including asbestos and mold, as well as demolishing dozens of buildings, both large and small, on the property.
District officials said experts working on the remediation are calculating what additional funds will be sought from the state.
The $15 million set aside in state money was based on estimates of the cost of the cleanup made more than a decade ago.
The district said inflation, rising construction costs, the continued degradation of the abandoned buildings and the need for extensive abatement and work to address storm water build up in basements and tunnels pushed up the total bill.
Due to overgrown vegetation and unsafe building conditions, a large part of the site was not accessible at the time of the original cost estimates, a district spokeswoman said.
Clearing out several years of vegetation and putting up fencing around the property was done last year.
“We have worked closely with our state partners overseeing the project and we are confident we will secure the additional funding needed to clean up all 280 acres of land,” the spokeswoman said. “The Park District has pledged to clean up and restore this site for the Tinley Park community without residents footing the bill.”
A hearing on the 2025-2026 budget will be held at 5:55 p.m. May 21 in the Rickerson Meeting Room of the Bettenhausen Recreation Center, 8125 W. 171st St. The Park District’s regular board meeting follows at 6 p.m.
The budget covers the fiscal year that began March 1. It was not immediately clear why the district is just now taking up the new budget, and a district representative did not respond to a request for clarification.
Overall, spending is expected to be almost flat, with $31 million appropriated compared with $30 million in fiscal year 2025.
Money budgeted but not fully spent in last year’s budget is carried over for this year’s total appropriation.
Spending in the last budget year accounted for the $15 million the Park District was allocated in the state budget for demolition and cleanup.
The proposed budget allocates $18 million, including any amount carried over from the old budget, for spending on the property remediation and cleanup.
The Park District expected to start the budget year with a cash-on-hand balance of $14.5 million.
Revenue for the new fiscal year is anticipated to be $22.7 million, according to the proposed budget.
The Park District envisions an initial phase of redevelopment that includes five baseball fields, six multipurpose athletic fields, a domed soccer field, stadium with running track, accessible playground and a pond.
It would be on part of the Howe property at the west end of the site, directly east of the Park District’s Freedom Park and Veterans Parkway.
Because it was mainly residential, the district said it is possibly among the cleanest pieces of land on the site, as far as remediation costs.
The village of Tinley Park also eyed acquiring the property from the state, which was sold to the Park District for $1, with ideas to redevelop it for commercial uses.
In 2015, Tinley Park planned to pay the state its asking price of $4.16 million for the property, but backed away from the purchase. In May 2019, the state offered to sell it to the village for $4.5 million, and the village indicated it was agreeable but negotiations did not advance.
