Richton Park Herald

Richton Park had a ground breaking ceremony on Saturday, October 31st for their new Community Center. Scheduled completion will be around the same time next year. Community advocates have  wanted a community center in the village for a long time. However, a couple of village wide referendums were defeated years ago that would have increased taxes on residents to build and operate a community center. It just so happens that one of the more successful TIF (Tax Increment Financing) districts in the village has accumulated tax funds over the years. These funds were sitting there until someone reviewing the original TIF documentation discovered a clause that allowed these funds to be used to build a community center! These funds accumulated over many years, so no increases in taxes were required to build the community center.

From left to right is Village Clerk Mary Pierce, Trustee Cynthia Butler, Trustee Valerie Babka, Village President Rick Reinbold, Trustee Julian Alexander, Trustee Sharon Kriha, Trustee Jennifer Artis and Trustee Harry Olson.

Above are the Community Stakeholders plus everyone else that showed up! A good time was had by all! Let's start construction!