West Chicago to Receive $2 Million for Kerr-McGee Site
Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) and the City of West Chicago are proud to announce $2 million in funding for remediation of the Kerr-McGee Superfund that was included as part of the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday, December 29.
“After an extremely competitive project submission process and many months spent advocating tirelessly for our community, I am proud to deliver $2 million in Community Project Funding for the Kerr-McGee superfund,” said Rep. Casten. “I am proud to have fought for funding that will make our community healthier, safer, stronger, and even more resilient. This is democracy in action.”
Congressman Casten’s office announced the initial passage of this funding with the House Appropriations Committee in July 2022. In September 2022, the City began a search for professional park planning services, which resulted in Upland Design Ltd. receiving a contract agreement. Following the contract the agreement, the City has hosted several community input meetings during November 2022 in an effort to gather community members’ input regarding the development of a new park.
With the continued planning of the new park and the passing of the federal spending bill in December, the City is moving closer towards its objective of revitalizing the Kerr-McGee Superfund site.
In response to the passage of the federal spending bill, Mayor Ruben Pineda of the City of West Chicago provided the following statement.
“The announcement of this funding is a significant moment for our City. This site has afflicted West Chicago for decades, and through the development of this new park we can begin looking towards the future. Representative Casten and his team’s advocacy on our behalf has made a tremendous impact on our community, and the City of West Chicago is indebted to them for their continued support.”
The City will continue to provide updates to the community as it continues its progress of redeveloping the property along Weyrauch Street.
To view previous updates from the City regarding this development, please visit https://westchicago.org/kerrmcgee.
Online Portal Open to Submit Feedback for Community Park
Tell Us Your Ideas for a New Park
The City hosted a community input meeting on Wednesday, November 2 at the West Chicago City Hall to gather feedback from the community regarding a vision for a new park at the Kerr-McGee site.
For those unable to attend the meeting, the complete survey from the evening has been made available online and will be open for input through Monday, November 7. To submit your feedback about the park, please use the button below.
Please note: The City will also host an additional community input meeting on Wednesday, November 30 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Gallery 200 Hosting Exhibit Featuring Models from Cantigny Park Installation
Join the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage for the opening of Maquetas & Bocetos: Creatures of a Dream World on Friday, April 8 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The multi-dimensional exhibit explores the history and magic behind the unique Mexican art form that is an alebrije. Guests will learn about the process of creating alebrijes, and how artists pull inspiration from different aspects of their own lives and the world around them to design and sculpt these one-of-a-kind creations.
The models and drawings to be featured were created as part of the work the Mexican Cultural Center has been doing in collaboration with Meztli Artist Collective, their partner in Mexico City, to bring 48 Mexican masterpieces to DuPage County. 18 large alebrijes, alebrijes monumentales, and 30 smaller spirit animal sculptures will be on display at Cantigny Park from June 12 to Oct. 31, 2022. For more information and for full Cantigny Park programming see www.cantigny.org.
Maquetas & Bocetos runs from Friday, April 8 through Saturday, August 27 at Gallery 200, 103 W. Washington Street, West Chicago. Free parking is located next to the building and admission is free.