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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION APPROVING SUBLEASE/LICENSE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CHICAGO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY AND RIVERSIDE BROOKFIELD HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT 208 PURSUANT TO 70 ILCS 810/40
WHEREAS, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (“District”) owns a parcel of land adjacent to Riverside Brookfield High School, including athletic fields (the “Licensed Area”), which lies within the land designated for use by the Chicago Zoological Society (“CZS”) under the 1986 main operating agreement, which authorizes CZS to operate the world-renowned Brookfield Zoo Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the 1986 operating agreement was originally scheduled to expire on April 7, 2026, and the District and CZS executed an amendment on September 8, 2025, pursuant to authority granted by the Board of Commissioners (Board Item 250197), extending the expiration date of that agreement to April 7, 2027; and
WHEREAS, the District and CZS are currently renegotiating the main operating agreement which will extend CZS’s authority to operate the Brookfield Zoo Chicago beyond April 7, 2027; and
WHEREAS, on August 15, 2025, Section 40 of the Cook County Forest Preserve District Act (70 ILCS 810/40) was amended to authorize the managing authority of the zoological park to sublease or license, subject to approval by the District’s Board of Commissioners, no more than fifteen (15) acres of land within its boundaries to a governmental entity or not for profit organization for recreational use in support of the zoological park’s mission; and the amendment further provided that any sublease or license shall expire after fifteen (15) years, or upon expiration of the main operating agreement between CZS and the District (including renewal terms), whichever occurs first; and that the authority to sublease or license land under this Section expires December 31, 2030; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to this statutory authority, CZS has negotiated a Sublease/License Agreement (“Agreement”) with Riverside Brookfiel...
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