A Chance to Voice Your Opinion to the National Park Service

It has been a while since my last post but we have some good news to share.

As you know, we were awarded an assistance grant from the National Park Service. They have been reaching out to local organizations to get their feedback on how to best use the village-owned property known as Altenheim, concerning what type of green space amenities should be developed.


They are, not, however directly addressing the performing arts venue included in our Cultural Park Concept.

They have now entered the public outreach phase of their research and are seeking opinions from the general public. They will have tables set up at the events with an Activities/Amenities poster and an Opportunities/Concerns poster for people to leave feedback. They will also have some pictures and images of the site.


As of today, the scheduled community outreach events are at the following dates/times:


Forest Park, Park District, 7501 Harrison St, Forest Park, IL 60130
 Saturday, June 30th - 11am-2pm
 Saturday, August 4th - 11am-2pm

Public Library 7555 Jackson Blvd, Forest Park, IL 60130
 Wednesday, July 25th - 4pm-7pm
 Wednesday, August 8th - 4pm-7pm


It is important that supporters of the Cultural Park Concept, including a performing arts venue, attend these meetings to voice their opinions and raise questions on how the property should be utilized.


Please plan on attending one or more of these meetings, your input is essential to moving this concept forward.


I hope to see you there.


Ralph

12/19/2016 Meeting: Ad Hoc Committee Approved by Council, Being Formed

As reported in the Forest Park Review:


At the last Forest Park Village Council meeting on December 19, the mayor approved the formation of an ad hoc committee to further study the concept of a cultural park. Each council member will nominate one person to serve on the committee, and one of the committee members will act as a liaison between the committee and the council.


"Let's make this vision a reality," Calderone said, to which Commissioner Tom Mannix said, "Let's tee it up."


Commissioners will nominate the members on either January 9 or 23, at which time the ad hoc committee will be formed. DiFebo will be a member of the committee as well.

Cultural Park on the Agenda, December 19, 2016

Bad news / Good news

Unfortunately, I received an email from the Oak Park River Forest Foundation informing us that we did not make the final cut for the Big Idea grant. We extend congratulations to all of the finalists and wish them all luck as they move forward. Although the results were disappointing we are not discouraged, rather I think the process has reinvigorated our resolve to seek funding. The search for funds will continue from all possible sources.

Now for the good news, WE ARE BACK ON THE AGENDA!. The Cultural Park is going to be on the Village Council's agenda. The creation of an ad hoc committee will be discussed at the next board meeting on December 19^th meeting at 6:55 PM in the evening. We'll post an event on the Facebook page. Here is the link to the event.

I encourage everyone to attend the meeting and show support for turning our Cultural Park Concept into a plan and then into a park!

I hope to see you on December 19^th.

Ralph DiFebo

Village Board Agenda for Sept 26, 2016 Does Not have Altenheim on the Agenda

Please feel free to attend, but not on behalf of the Cultural Park effort. Sorry if this causes any inconvenience. We will keep you apprised of further developments.

Village Board Meeting September 26, 2016--Be there or be square

Please note,
It is unsure at this point whether Altenheim will be on the agenda. We will update when we verify.


Hello All,

During the August 22 Forest Park Village Board meeting, each Commissioner on the Board expressed support for the “Concept."

It is our understanding that the “Concept” will once again appear on the Village Board's agenda at their September 26th meeting. The discussion should include the Commissioner's opinions as to how to proceed in converting our Concept into a Plan.

As discussed at the last board meeting I anticipate that the Commissioners will form an Ad Hoc Committee to study the issue. We support these actions!

I hope that all of you can take time out of your busy schedules and join us at the next meeting, Monday, September 26 at 7:00 at Village Hall to see what the Village's next step will be.  Again Forest Park Village Hall is located at 517 Des Plaines Ave.

Very exciting times, hope to see you on the 26th.

Go to this link to see the Facebook event.

Results from the Forest Park Village Council Meeting on August 22, 2016

Ralph, Brian, and Gary did a great job presenting the concept to the Village Council. Their preparation paid when all members of the board expressed support for the concept.

I won't publish details here, but here are some links:

Video of the Council meeting

Minutes from the Council Meeting (about 3 months behind)

The editors of this page are completely biased, but here is the Forest Park Review article on the Altenheim part of the meeting.

We'll keep progress updated here.

We're presenting to the Forest Park Village Board!

Monday, August 22, 2016

7:00 p.m.
Village Hall, 517 Desplaines Avenue, Forest Park, IL

As many of you may know I am not much of a Facebooker or blogger but in the short time that I have been at it for this project, this is probably my most important post.

We have been asked to present our Altenheim Concept to the Forest Park Village Board at their August 22nd meeting. I thank the Mayor and each Commissioner for allowing us to present. We hope they see the merits of the concept, evolve it into a plan and develop the park.

We are all excited and thrilled to be presenting. Gary, Brian, and I welcome everyone to come and support us in our effort to create our Cultural Park. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM and I recommend that you plan on arriving early.

Please share this post (or the one on our Facebook page) with your neighbors and friends and come out on August 22; this is the invitation we have been waiting for!

Thank you for all of your support past, present and future.

See you there,
Ralph

Make It Happen. The Economics of Building a Park at Altenheim - 3 Meetings Upcoming

During the past months, we have accumulated some fantastic data that makes the prospects of creating our Forest Park's Cultural Park a reality. We have scheduled three gatherings to share this information with you.

Please plan on attending at least one of these meetings.

Hope to see you,

Ralph

The meetings are scheduled as follows:

July 14, 2016, 7 PM at Chalk, 7414 W Madison, Forest Park, IL Facebook event here

July 18, 2016, 7 PM at Brown Cow, 7347 W Madison, Forest Park, IL  Facebook event here

July 20, 2016, 7 PM at Amy's Wine House, 7235 W Roosevelt Rd, Forest Park, IL  Facebook event here

Public Neighborhood Forum #1 is on the Books

Neighborhood Forum #1 is on the books!

Over 40 people attended our first public neighborhood forum on March 1 at Exit Strategy Brewing Company in Forest Park. 

Thanks to everyone at Exit Strategy for offering us this opportunity to bring our idea to our citizens and friends. We had a terrific turnout of people who asked great questions and gave us some terrific input. We want these forums to both introduce our idea of a Cultural Park to the area and increase our support as we hopefully move forward. 

As we've stated, this is a concept plan that we want to present to the Forest Park Village Board. We encourage our supporters to spread the word about the idea and keep giving us your input on the concept. 

If you missed our first Forum, join us this Thursday, March 3 at McGaffer's in Forest Park, and Thursday March 10 at Buzz Cafe in Oak Park.  Start time is 7:00.  Also, we are encouraging a Food Drive at each event, so please bring non-perishable food items if you can.

Neighborhood Meeting Held on January 14, 2016

Hello everybody

One of our neighbors on the 1500 block on Elgin Avenue (Forest Park) invited her neighbors to an open house so we could talk about the Altenheim proposal. It was well attended, about eleven neighbors were able to stop in. We described our vision and answer a wide variety of questions from who might run the park to parking and security.

We are planning other outreach events.