Friends of Riverfront Park, through its secretary, Elaine Hopkins, has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The lawsuit contends that IDNR is improperly withholding documents needed to analyze Peoria’s application to transfer most of Riverfront Park to a developer for upscale apartments.

That application is pending with the National Park Service, which must approve it after review by IDNR.

"We have repeatedly asked IDNR for documents we need to see if the proposed sale of Riverfront Park by the City is legal or not. IDNR has been stonewalling us for the last 3 months," said Hopkins. "They claim that the documents are exempt as relating to negotiations for a sale of land, which is demonstrably false. We had no choice but to sue," she added.

The lawsuit was filed on May 15, 2017 in Springfield, IL circuit court and seeks expedited treatment because the City must make a decision whether or not to proceed with the sale by June 30, 2017.

Copies of the court filings are available on request made to Ms. Hopkins at her e-mail address below.

For further information on the efforts to save Riverfront Park in Peoria from the apartments, see the FORP Facebook page.

Friends of Riverfront Park: An Illinois not for profit corporation

peoriaforp@yahoo.com
Karrie Alms, 309-258-7762
Elaine Hopkins, ehopkins7@prodigy.net, 309-231-5758