Oak Lawn officials celebrated Tuesday progress on the construction of a stormwater detention basin near Polaris Intermediate School while raising concerns about a Nicor gas main replacement project that’s also underway.

The Village Board approved another $45,000 for the Polaris flood control project Tuesday, for a more expensive soil mixture meant for athletic fields.

Officials at District 218, which agreed to the construction at 107th and Kilpatrick Avenue in 2023, said they were concerned about safety of players on the fields if a limestone additive was used instead of an infield soil mix.

Board members said they were pleased with the work done on the now $15 million project, the majority of which is expected to wrap up by the end of November so the athletic fields can reopen by June 2027. The cost is being split between the village and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

After storms tore through the area Monday, with tornadoes confirmed in Hazel Crest, Harvey, Homewood, Lansing and Orland Park, the unfinished detention basin “worked exactly how it’s supposed to work,” said District 6 Village Trustee Ralph Soch.

“It was its first test,” Soch said. “I got calls and lots of videos from people in the neighborhood, and I’m like, ‘This is exactly what it’s supposed to do. This is what it will look like in an event like this.'”

Soch and project manager Tim Carter said the park was filled to about half capacity on Monday and drained in about seven hours. When the basin completely fills, it will take between one and two days to drain, they said.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/29/oak-lawn-polaris-flood-control-test/