ALBANY PARK — Property damaged during flooding in 2008 is now officially part of Eugene Field Park after a transfer of land between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District.
A pair of homes previously occupied the .06-acre parcel at 5056 and 5057 N. Monticello Ave., but the houses, which sat immediately adjacent to the Chicago River, were demolished after the waterway overflowed its banks in 2008.
The city purchased the lots with $130,000 in Open Space Impact Fees, which are collected from new residential developments and used to help increase the amount of open space in neighborhoods.
The Park District board unanimously approved the land transfer at its most recent meeting.
"The expansion will allow the Chicago Park District to increase passive space at Eugene Field," said Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner.
According to the legislation authorizing the transfer, a needs assessment showed that Albany Park had one of the highest open space deficits among Chicago's community areas.
Eugene Field, 5100 N. Ridgeway Ave., occupies 12 — now 12.06 — acres along the Chicago River.
