Skokie Park District interested in Bessie Rhodes site — grant application, public meeting up next

The Skokie Park District will present a “conceptual design” for a brand new park at a public meeting Thursday night as the district prepares to potentially purchase a shuttered school property. 

The public meeting — set for 6 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Weber Leisure Center, 9300 Weber Park Place — will outline what it could cost and what the Skokie Park District could create if it were to buy the now-closed Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies from Evanston/Skokie School District 65. 

Citing the need to cut costs, the D65 School Board voted in June to close the Bessie Rhodes School, 3701 Davis St., and board members later agreed they’d prefer to sell the school property to a government entity like the Skokie Park District, the Evanston RoundTable reported.

While it’s unclear when the D65 School Board may formally vote on selling the school, the Skokie Park Board voted unanimously on Monday, Aug. 18, to authorize applying for a state grant to potentially buy the property.  

The state Open Space Lands Acquisition grant requires the Skokie Park District create a conceptual design for a park at the site even though the district does not own the property, said Michelle Tuft, executive director of the Skokie Park District, on Monday. 

The “conceptual design” for what would may be called Timber Ridge Park includes a soccer field, basketball court, recreation center, playground, picnic area, parking lot, public restrooms, and a quarter-mile walking path loop, park district documents show. 

Park Board Commissioner Courtney Williams said on Monday that the design is “aspirational” in order to apply for the state grant, and if the park district purchases the site then the final version of Timber Ridge could look “nothing like this or exactly like this.”

Jim Bottorff, Skokie Park District’s director of communications, said in an email that the school property was appraised for approximately $4.5 million, and he affirmed “there is no timeline” to the site’s potential acquisition. 

Public documents show that the conceptual design for the Timber Ridge Park would cost approximately $7.7 million. Just demolishing the existing structures at Bessie Rhodes alone could cost $538,000, Parks Superintendent Corrie Guynn said.

Tuft noted the park district does not have an “extra $11-$12 million sitting around” to potentially invest in purchasing and improving the Bessie Rhodes site. 

The Skokie Park District is already pitching a $53 million bond sale to fund what would be the largest capital program the district has undertaken since the 1990s, transforming land near Skokie Sports Park and a largely vacant industrial site nearby into two newly improved areas. 

The Skokie Park Board voted unanimously on July 21 to add the question of whether it can issue the $53 million in bonds on the ballot of the upcoming November midterm election. 

If park district residents approve of the measure, local property taxes will rise in order to essentially fund 46-acres-worth of park amenities that would include lit soccer, baseball and cricket fields, a fully inclusive playground, a 1-mile walking path, and stage and bandshell.

During a previous presentation on the referendum, Tuft noted the park district has few if any other opportunities left to expand outside of developing those 46 acres and acquiring the Bessie Rhodes school site. 

An online petition started by a local attorney shows that more than 800 people pledged support of D65 selling the Bessie Rhodes site to the Skokie Park District or otherwise “keeping the property in public hands.”

The RoundTable reported in June that at least six organizations had expressed interest in purchasing Bessie Rhodes, including Evanston Township High School District 202, the Skokie Park District and at least one private school and one developer. 

Tuft said on Monday that, as she understood it, the D65 board had directed its staff to negotiate with the two public entities interested in acquiring Bessie Rhodes: the Skokie Park District and Evanston Township High School District 202. 

A spokesperson for D65 did not immediately answer questions on what the timeline is for a vote on selling Bessie Rhodes and what entities the district is considering potentially selling the property to.

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