Tinley to study sports complex feasibility – Chicago Tribune
Companies are apparently lining up to consult with Tinley Park officials on the feasibility of a sports complex on the grounds of the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center.
The village has set an Aug. 2 deadline for consulting firms that want to be considered for the job of doing the study, which would examine whether the 280-acre site at the northwest corner of Harlem Avenue and 183rd Street would be suited for a large-scale complex that could accommodate youth sports tournaments.
So far, 35 firms have downloaded the request-for-proposal form from the village’s website, although that number might not reflect how many ultimately submit a formal proposal, Village Manager Dave Niemeyer said at a Village Board committee meeting Tuesday.
Those proposals would offer a rough outline of the scope of work to be done, and the board would likely interview some of the firms before selecting one to move forward with the feasibility study, Niemeyer said.
Tinley Park doesn’t own the property, but wants to craft an overarching plan meant to steer the direction of whatever development might occur there. Tentative proposals so far envision mainly housing being built, with the site’s handicap of being in Cook County, and the corresponding higher taxes for commercial, tamping down any interest in significant retail uses for the land.
Some residents who’ve attended public forums and other meetings regarding the plan have said homes wouldn’t be the type of revenue-generator the village needs, and have urged officials to consider a large-scale sports complex for the site. Such a development, they say, would draw families from throughout the Midwest who have children playing in sports tournaments, which would benefit other Tinley Park businesses such as hotels and restaurants.
They’ve pointed to the success of the massive Grand Park sports center in the Indianapolis suburb of Westfield as an imaginative use for the site that Tinley Park should adopt. Opened two years ago, the 360-acre sports complex boasts 31 grass and synthetic-turf multiuse fields for sports such as soccer, football and lacrosse, as well as 26 baseball and softball fields.
Later this month, Westfield will hold grand opening activities for a 370,000-square-foot indoor sports facility at Grand Park. The $26 million facility was built by Holladay Properties, a South Bend, Ind. developer of industrial and commercial buildings in Indiana and surrounding states. The company has also filed plans with Tinley Park to build a WoodSpring Suites extended-stay hotel at 18644 North Creek Drive, just northwest of the interchange of Harlem and Interstate 80. It would be one of 15 WoodSpring locations the company plans to build in the Chicago area.
A timetable laid out by Farr Associates, the village’s lead consultant on the redevelopment plan, had anticipated the Village Board would have, by now, approved a plan for the property. Additional public meetings to have residents view the tentative proposals are on hold while the feasibility study is being conducted, and it’s too early to say what that study would cost or how long it would take. Niemeyer said he believed the Village Board would move quickly to select a firm for the study.
Farr had previously done, at the village’s request, a limited amount of research into Grand Park, a largely municipal-funded complex, and other, smaller sports facilities. The feasibility study Tinley Park will undertake will be much more in depth, and look at whether there is sufficient demand for such a facility.
A development similar to Grand Park, that would include outdoor as well as domed fields for sports including baseball, basketball and soccer, is in the advanced planning stages in Portage, Ind., about an hour’s drive east of Tinley Park.
While he acknowledged the additional level of study further delays finalizing the development plan, Niemeyer said, “It is what it is,” and that the Village Board’s “philosophy is we want to do it right.”
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