"The goal has always been to have a developer come in and turn a property that’s an eyesore now into a very valuable property so that is our goal," he said.
Niemeyer said the state wants to meet in the next few weeks about a possible sale. The village administrator said, "we're anxious to hear what they have to say."
There’s a lot of black mold and asbestos on the site so any sale would have to take into account the environmental cleanup.
Tinley Park had previously lined up a developer to build a combination horse racing track and casino on the site and Niemeyer said the developer had agreed to do the environmental clean-up.
State Senator Michael Hastings said he's glad the governor is giving a thumbs-up to renewing efforts to sell the property. He said Tinley Park village officials and residents should decide what is best to put on the land.
"A lot of people have awesome ideas for that site and I think that they should be in control of it," he said.
The October glitch between the state and the village wasn't the only one to get in the way of a sale. Sen. Hastings points out, "It’s been mired and plagued by sort of controversy. We offered to sell the property to the village back in 2015 and they had agreed and then there was some political turnover in the town which made the sale of the property stall."