By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has announced the formal nomination to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizing the transformation of the Glenview Naval Air Station into the village’s neighborhood known as “The Glen.” The agency says the transformation has “contributed significantly to the quality of life and character of the community.”
The nomination was in response to U.S. EPA’s call for nominations for the first annual “National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse” Award. The Award was created to recognize the coordinated efforts necessary to ensure former federal sites are remediated property to allow for property reuse.
“NAS Glenview was a site closed by the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1993 and the transformation from a Naval Air Station to a part of the Village is simply amazing,” noted Director Alec Messina in the nomination. “The efforts at the site by all the partners who supported and participated in the restoration and reuse of NAS Glenview have performed yeoman’s work through their many outstanding group and individual efforts.”
NAS Glenview was a major training center for naval aviators during WWII. Many Navy pilots assigned to aircraft carriers during the war trained and passed their Carrier Qualification at the station, utilizing two converted ships, the USS Sable and the USS Wolverine, that were stationed off of Navy Pier. Following the closure of the Air Station, the Village and Illinois EPA partnered to expedite the redevelopment of the 1,121 acre site. The restoration began in 1993 with the formation of a three-member BRAC cleanup team, comprised of the U.S. Navy, U.S. EPA and Illinois EPA, to manage clean-up efforts. The $25 million cleanup effort allowed for the transfer of large tracts of land beginning in late summer 1997 and the transfer of 100 percent of the land by 2002.
The Village of Glenview was responsible for the planning and implementation of the reuse project. The development project, The Glen: From Runways to Streetscapes, is substantially complete. The project includes over 2,200 residential units, two million square feet of office and retail space and more than 400 acres of green space.
U.S. EPA will announce award recipients in April of 2018.
@ 2018 WLS-AM News
