Breaking down the proposed Harvey Central Park project

New details are emerging about Harvey’s plans to build a brand new public park blocks from the downtown area.

The Harvey Central Park envisions an amphitheater, fishing pond, green space, playground, dog park around the area of 153rd St. and Myrtle Ave., where a water treatment agency is endeavoring a controversial water detention pond. 

“The future Central Park will not only provide multi-use recreation and green space for the public,” City Administrator Corean Davis wrote in a grant proposal submitted to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, obtained by the HWH via public records request to the state, “but it will also increase the resiliency of the community’s infrastructure, reduce flooding, and basement backups in the area.”

Here’s what we know about the proposed Central Park.

Harvey back peddles on funding request

Officials requested over half a million dollars—$548,826—in funding through the state’s Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development program, to appraise, purchase, and bankroll relocation services associated with the project. The OSLAD program, established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1986, aids communities with funding for land acquisition and development for parks and outdoor recreation.

Communities can obtain funding assistance up to 50 percent of approved project costs. Distressed communities can apply for the state to cover all approved project costs. Harvey applied as a distressed community. 

But Harvey withdrew its application for funding, a state spokesperson confirmed to the HWH in May. It’s not clear why. There is not a “mechanism for public comment,” they added. 

Land acquisition along and around 154th St.

The city requested the half-million to acquire 9 additional parcels of land along 154th St. and Ashland Ave., an estimated $491,826 market value, to expand the area around the water retention pond project to an 11-acre public park. 

Though the request only covered the acquisition of 9 parcels, the full project aimed for 30. The grant mentions finding other funding sources for the acquisition of the remaining 21 parcels, including largely abandoned residential properties on Loomis Ave. between 153rd and 154th Streets, to bring the plan to fruition. 

Applications for the 2024 fiscal year opened in early July 2023 and closed mid-September. Applications for the 2025 fiscal year will open on July 1, but an official deadline has yet to be announced.

A letter of support from the Nature Conservancy lists the proposal’s social and environmental benefits, including “… increas[ing] social interactions between residents, build[ing] relationships through festivals or cultural activities, and helping bring a sense of identity to Harvey, improving the overall livability and community wellness.” 

Catherine O’Connor, Director of Engineering at Metropolitan Water Reclamation District also submitted a letter of support.

Relocating a local social services agency

Most parcels Harvey sought are vacant, and a vacant home and the Community Economic Development Association non-profit office would have been demolished. The proposal also requested funding to assist in relocating the CEDA office.

According to emails obtained by the HWH via public records request, the District Senior Engineer Daniel Walsh helped coordinate a meeting between the District, Davis, and CEDA’s Chief Executive Officer in fall 2023 to discuss the project.

Donald Martin of Orland Park-based Martin Appraisals Real Estate Appraisals and Consultants was expected to perform appraisals for the parcels, according to documents.

The park would be overseen by the city, separate from the Harvey Park District’s parks and facilities, which are “not able to accommodate larger recreational and educational programs,” Davis wrote in the city’s OSLAD application.

The city estimated one year of the land acquisition and two years to construct the Central Park with a spring 2024 start date.

‘Adaptive reuse’

The application details the city’s plans for the vacant Ascension-St. Susanna Catholic School campus. 

In January 2023, Harvey purchased the iconic school, but officials have been coy on details regarding its use. Local preservationists launched an online petition to save the campus from suspected demolition. According to the city’s renderings, much of the campus would be demolished while preserving a small chunk for “adaptive reuse,” Davis wrote.

The water detention pond and adjoining project has been met with some pushback from locals over safety concerns and the impact on youth. Ascension-St. Susanna is now the site of constant break-ins. A man fatally overdosed on fentanyl and cocaine on the property in December 2023.

Neither the mayor’s office nor police officials have publicly commented on the death to-date.