Parks Department

Cook County, IL: (May-15-08) The Chicago Park District and the Latin School of Chicago have been locked in a legal battle over the Latin School soccer field. The dispute had, at its crux, a controversial contract between the district and the Latin School of Chicago which entitled the private school to exclusive prime-time use of a soccer field it was building on public land. As part of a settlement reached between the parties, sources said that the contract had been dissolved, leaving the district to start over with its plans for the property, said to cost about $2 million in capital expenses and legal fees.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the district will have to repay Latin's costs for the mostly finished field, which is an estimated $2 million, as well as pay $40,000 for legal fees and other costs to Protect Our Parks, the citizens' group that sued to block the deal. Officials said that the Park District likely violated state law and its own procedures by approving the Latin contract with minimal public review and that if the district is still interested in developing an artificial turf soccer field on the property, it must submit plans to the Chicago Plan Commission and the district's board of directors. [CHICAGO BUSINESS: LATIN SETTLEMENT TO COST PARK DISTRICT $2 MILLION]

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Published on May-20-08