Representatives of an engineering firm hired by the U.S. Navy walked through the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve in northeast Highland Park on Monday, but local officials say the recreational area will not open anytime soon.
The 77-acre preserve has been closed since early April when material from three explosive devices was discovered on the former military base. The nature center will not reopen before summer of next year while the firm reviews documents and possibly makes more visits to assure visitors the property is safe, officials say.
Representatives of Openlands, the city of Highland Park and Naval Station Great Lakes began meeting weekly in July to discuss all efforts currently underway to reopen the preserve and determine appropriate steps.
Openlands opened the preserve in 2011 after it acquired ownership of the land from the Navy four years earlier. The site was the former home of Fort Sheridan and closed in 1993. The rest of the land was turned into a large private housing development, the Sheridan Reserve Center and military housing.
Highland Park City Manager Ghida Neukirch said the goal is to reopen the preserve next summer once the city and Openlands are assured it is safe to do so. On Sept. 24, the Navy entered into an agreement with consulting and engineering firm Tetra Tech to conduct a study.
Neukirch said the firm will perform a thorough review of military records and an on-site inspection of the property. Hopefully it will provide sufficient information to assure the preserve is safe to reopen, she said.
“We expect it to be comprehensive and complete with a recommendation of any remediation needed to open the preserve to the public,” Neukirch said. “It’s important to have this review to assure everyone the property is safe.”
John Sheppard, public information officer at Naval Station Great Lakes, said representatives of Tetra Tech were walking the property Monday and are looking for shoreline erosion and explosives. In May, he called the three explosives found and disposed of an anomaly.
“That’s what this is all about,” he said. “I doubt they’ll find anything. I believe they were also looking at erosion along the coastline.”
Sheppard said he was uncertain why the hoped for reopening date is projected as being next summer. The time is what is allotted to Tetra Tech under the contract.
“The Navy is not making this decision,” Sheppard said. “The decision is up to Openlands.”
Though a partial reopening of the preserve that would have allowed people to use the paved asphalt paths overlooking Lake Michigan was discussed, Neukirch said it would be a challenge because of fears people would walk up and down the bluffs to access the beach.
“People were doing that to go down to the beach before it was closed,” Neukirch said. “You can tell by the landscape. It was pretty worn from people going down the bluff. People cannot disturb the landscape.”
In April, a Highland Park spokesperson said an old hand grenade was found at the bottom of the bluff April 6. Three days later, material that may have emanated from World War II-era flares was found in the same area.
When the material was found in April, the United States Department of Defense said in a statement the area where the devices were located was not near former military training ranges.
Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter.
