Vacant Mundelein home demolished, making way for neighborhood park
The name is to be determined, but the important thing for residents in a quiet neighborhood north of Route 176 and east of Route 45 in Mundelein is that a blighted corner property is being replaced with a park.
"Thrilled might be a better word," said Mary Van Vactor, who since 1992 has lived across the street from what became a vacant house on Goodwin Place at Holcomb Drive. "When you have an abandoned property, it's a worry."
At just four-tenths of an acre, the park will be among the Mundelein Park and Recreation District's smallest and will not have court surfaces or dedicated parking. This is planned as a true neighborhood park where visitors will walk over.
"We had an open house and about 35 to 40 people showed up to give us their opinion," said Margaret Resnick, park district executive director. "That neighborhood has been without a park forever."
While the district was considering a long-range plan, the area was identified as the only one in town where residents did not have walking access to a park without having to cross a busy street, she said.
With no available park sites, the district began looking for foreclosed homes. One was sold and rehabbed. The other had about $70,000 in liens placed on it by the village, which had acquired the abandoned home and garage on the corner lot at a sheriff's sale.
"The owners had moved away," Van Vactor said. Upkeep, such as lawn mowing, was sporadic. "At first it was the village and at times it was the neighbors," she said.
A collaboration was struck. Lake County waived $30,000 in delinquent property taxes and the village bid included the amount of the liens, which was written off.
The park district also acquired an adjoining strip of property for a total investment in the project of about $225,000, including demolition, site preparation, design and construction.
The home was demolished Feb. 1. The basement was filled Friday and top soil was being applied Monday. A landscape architect will draw plans to include playground equipment for younger and older kids, swings and a bench dedicated to the family that donated adjacent property. Work is expected to begin in August, Resnick said.
"It should be ready for the kids to play on in the fall," she added.
Van Vactor said the neighborhood has come full circle since she moved in. There are nine kids younger than 13 on her street, she said.
"The neighbors up and down my street are very excited," she said.
The Holcomb neighborhood is near the village's central area but is somewhat isolated by the two busy streets and railroad tracks.
Holcomb is a potential front-runner for the park name as the village has had several names in its history: Mechanics Grove, Holcomb, Rockefeller, Area and Mundelein.