Harmony Square is a new multi-use plaza that will be located at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and North Street. The new plaza was designed by the Lakota Group and will be constructed on 1.6 acres in the center of Downtown Tinley. It will feature an adaptive plaza space that will have events scheduled all year long and will include an artificial turf lawn, a concert stage on one end and a focal “gateway” plaza on the other, seasonal fire pits, a splash pad for summer that converts into an ice rink during the winter, and a support building for skate rentals and a warming hut, as well as other amenities. The project will include infrastructure improvements and the reconstruction and beautification of North and South streets with brick pavers and the construction of a new road, Festival Street, connecting North and 173rd streets.
In November 2023 the project received all necessary zoning approvals from the Plan Commission and Village Board. The next step will be permitting for sitework, including installing and updating public utilities and site grading. The plaza is on-track for a spring 2025 opening.
Plaza Renderings
Additional Details
Harmony Square, to be constructed at Oak Park Avenue and North Street, is a key component of the Village’s branding initiative that puts music at the core focus of Tinley Park’s "Life Amplified" music brand. With a robust, year-round programming schedule that includes music performances, outdoor exercise classes and ice skating, the new plaza will become the heartbeat of Downtown Tinley. Through Harmony Square and downtown redevelopment, the Village of Tinley Park aims to create a sense of place and a sense of community in Tinley Park and to meet the goals of reducing leakage of locally earned money being spent in neighboring communities, increasing the investment and tax base in Tinley Park and dramatically increasing visitor spending locally.
Harmony Square will include a performance stage and a splash pad/interactive water feature with overhead shade structures. An artificial turf lawn will provide plenty of room for informal play and space to picnic while watching musical performances. The turf area transforms into an ice rink in the winter months and will be large enough for free skate or hockey games. Skate rentals will be provided, along with a warming hut and fire pits that will be located near casual seating areas for those cold winter nights.
Construction of the plaza will include infrastructure improvements and the reconstruction and beautification of North and South streets with brick pavers and the construction of a new road, Festival Street, connecting North and 173rd streets.
Harmony Square was designed using placemaking, a community-driven, collaborative, destination-focused process that pays attention to the interactions between the physical, social, ecological, economic and cultural qualities of a space. Placemaking is not focused on constructing buildings, attracting great businesses or designing a plaza, but considers all those things. From redevelopment to streetscape improvements to events and programs this project focuses on placemaking in downtown Tinley Park. An important piece of this placemaking is Harmony Square. The placemaking process was interactive and featured multiple opportunities for the community to shape the final outcome of Harmony Square.
Harmony Square was designed by the Lakota Group, a planning, urban design and landscape architecture firm from Chicago, and engineered by Christopher Burke Associates and Robinson Engineering.