A Fenwick High School representative said it is “time to re-engage” with the Village of Forest Park and discuss a potential property deal that surfaced months ago.
Oak Park’s Fenwick, in partnership with Dominican University in River Forest, had expressed interest in purchasing the eight acres of undeveloped land behind Altenheim retirement home for the development of some type of sports field.
“We’re still interested, but unfortunately we haven’t really moved the ball too far” since initial conversations with the village, said RJ McMahon, vice president of operations and development at Fenwick. “It’s been kind of a busy summer, certainly for the village, too. I know there were the flooding issues. We had a lot going on operationally as well. …I expect for things to settle down now and to be able to carry on the conversations.”
The property at 7824 Madison St., owned by the village, has been on the market since the end of last year after a deal fell through with the YMCA.
As of now, Village Administrator Tim Gillian said officials are anticipating some form of a proposal from the two schools, which are both lacking space for athletics. Gillian said if the land was turned into a sports field, he imagines the village would try to negotiate a way for residents to also utilize the open space when not it’s not in use by the schools.
“I don’t know the extent to how they want to develop it, I don’t really know,” he said. “It’s in their court now. They know that it’s for sale, they know that it’s available.”
-Katie Drews
