Park District, Village Butt Heads Over Tinley Mental Health Property

TINLEY PARK, IL — The Tinley Park Park District and Village of Tinley Park find themselves vying separately for the vacant Tinley Mental Health Center property, after park district officials on Monday said they'd like to throw their name in the state's hat for ownership.

The park district's hopes to acquire the property came to light during a special board meeting Monday. Village officials have attempted for years to buy the property—280 acres on the corner of 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue—with the latest deal at a price tag of $4.5 million falling through as recently as February 2022.

The state in late-October listed the land among its surplus properties, opening it up for parties to declare interest by the end of November. Burt Odelson, a lawyer with Odelson, Sterk, Murphey, Frazier & McGrath representing the park district, said its officials spoke up once it was listed.

"Being a park district, they’re always looking for open space and property to put recreational facilities on," Odelson told Patch. "Do they have some ideas on what they want to do? Yes. But too early in the process to talk about the plan."

The park district's interest surprised Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz and other officials, who said they'd always hoped to first acquire the property, then work with agencies such as the park district to flesh out plans for it. While the park district had emailed Village Manager Pat Carr in January inquiring about the property and using a portion of it for a park, the discussion was postponed until the Village's assumed future acquisition of the land.

"They were always involved throughout all the years we've been doing this, there was some form or fashion that the park district would have some of it there," said Village Manager Pat Carr, referring to the land.

The purported gap in communication—and the park district's newly expressed interest—have the two government bodies in a bit of a face-off.

"This has totally caught us off-guard," Carr said. Carr and Tinley Park Park District Executive Director Shawn Roby work together regularly on projects, Carr said, and Roby had not previously expressed interest.

Odelson said he was surprised by the Village's reaction to the park district's move.

"We had this onslaught from the Village of Tinley Park about ‘how dare we’ put in a request with the state," said Odelson. "... The board, they felt they would be remiss in not expressing interest in it: open space, open land, athletic fields, facilities.

"I didn’t expect the barrage of displeasure by the Village."

Glotz said it's not the park district's interest in the property, but their lack of disclosure earlier on in the process that irks Village officials.

"It’s not about them being interested, that’s not the issue," Glotz told Patch. "The issue is, they sent an email in January, and this is what they’re hanging their hats on.

"They never said one word."

The property needs to be repurposed in such a way that will generate revenue, Glotz said, and that is not necessarily a focus the park district would be able to keep.

"We need to raise revenue to help the taxpayers," Glotz told Patch. 'You don’t raise revenue by putting a splash pad in."

Officials for years have floated proposals for the land, at one point touting the idea of a racino—a combined racetrack and casino—and later considering redevelopment as a 55-and-older, 400 single-family home housing complex. The former was nixed in October 2019, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker canceled the state's sale of the property.

The Village has hopes of using portions of the land in different ways, in part for a sportsplex and multi-purpose athletic fields, and also to centralize all Village resources, moving Village Hall, the police department and more to one location, Glotz said.

The cost to remediate the land to usable condition years ago was estimated at nearly $12.4 million—a concern Glotz has for the park district’s ability to finance such necessary work. The land is in a tax increment financing district, Glotz said, so any revenue raised through its redevelopment could help offset the Village’s cost to remediate.

"It’s insulting, it’s rude, it’s bad government that they would not give us a heads-up or call, ask us questions," Glotz told Patch. "When people stop doing things for the residents of Tinley Park, and politics come first, this is what happens."

Odelson said the state ultimately decides who gets the land—a process that will likely take up to 90 days.

"It’s going to be a process to see where the park district goes with the property, and what the state of Illinois wants to do," he said.

The park district entering its name for consideration has complicated things for Glotz and Village officials, Glotz said.

"They have to come through the Village to do anything there for zoning," he said. "Why in the world would you shun the Village — it’s a slap in the face when they know what we’ve spent on the property.

"It’s frustrating, it’s such bad government. ... We’re supposed to work for the people, not for ourselves, and that’s what they’re doing here."

Carr said the park district contending for the land now is a confusing move for all involved.

"Why they would do this," Carr said, "it doesn’t make any business sense, whatsoever."