Orland Park, Illinois, United States

🇺🇸 Orland Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago situated 25 miles south-west of Chicago, Orland Park is close to several interstate highways, with the I-80 east-west coast connector as its southern border. The Metra commuter rail system links it to the Chicago Loop and from there to O'Hare and Midway airports.

History Orland Park was first settled as "Orland" in 1834, with Henry Taylor being the area's first settler. Other original settlers include Ichabod and William Myrick, Jacob and Bernard Hostert, Thomas Cooper and John Humphrey. The Hostert brothers built log cabins for their families, which became some of the first homes built in Orland Park. In 1879 the railroad was extended to Orland Park, leading way for the towns first train station, "Sedgwick Station". This development took the town from an agrarian society to a commercial hub that provides shipping services to local farms. The village was incorporated on May 31, 1892.

Orland Park’s growth since the mid-20th century has been largely driven by waves of white flight from Chicago’s South Side and inner-ring suburbs. Orland Square Mall opened in 1976.

Geography According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Orland Park has a total area of 22.31 square miles (57.78 km²), of which 22.03 square miles (57.06 km²) (or 98.72%) is land and 0.29 square miles (0.75 km²) (or 1.28%) is water.

The main bodies of water in Orland are two lakes: Lake Sedgewick and McGinnis Slough.

Communities bordering Orland Park include Homer Glen (in Will County) to the west, Orland Hills and Mokena (also in Will County but Orland Hills is in Cook County) to the south, Tinley Park to the south-east, Oak Forest to the east, and Palos Park and Palos Heights to the north.

Economy Orland Park's businesses and jobs include finance, retail, services and healthcare. Shopping complexes include Orland Park Crossing and Orland Square Mall.

Orland Park plans to develop a new district, the Orland Park Downtown, previously called the Main Street Triangle, as well as the I-80 Business District.

Economy: Top employers According to Orland Park's 2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's top employers are: 1 Consolidated High School District 230; 2 Orland School District 135; 3 Jewel-Osco; 4 Carson's; 5 J. C. Penney; 6 Panduit; 7 The Horton Group; 8 Macy's; 9 Target; 10 Sears.

Parks and recreation Orland Park has a large Recreation and Parks Department. The village has over 60 parks, with plenty of options for recreation, from sports complexes to nature trails.

The Centennial Park Aquatic Center is a 192-acre (78 ha) park with a public pool. With six water slides, two large pools, and a children's play area, it is one of the largest public pools in the area. Since its debut in 1992, the Aquatic centre has gone through multiple renovations. There have been several add-ons, including two new water slides, and two outdoor sand volleyball courts.

Just south of the Centennial Park Aquatic Center is the 95-acre (38 ha) Lake Segdewick. It has hiking paths, nature trails, boardwalks, boat ramps, and pedal boats and kayaks for rent. Fishing is allowed.

The Winter Wonderland Ice Rink is also in Centennial Park. Open from November to March, this outdoor ice rink is free of charge. There is a small warming hut where you can rent ice skates.

The Sportsplex, on 159th Street, is Orland Park's largest indoor recreational facility. It has three full-sized basketball courts, an indoor soccer field, and a full weight room with free weights, plenty of cardio options, and a ¼-mile indoor track. Personal trainers are available, along with fitness classes, including Pilates, yoga, cycling, and Zumba. The Sportsplex also has a 35-foot (11 m) rock wall with six different routes for all skill levels.

The Recreation and Parks Department also helps organize many public events. Centennial Park hosts charity events and seasonal events, including the Orland Park Turkey Trot, a 5K run held on Thanksgiving morning at the John Humphrey Complex. These events are heavily advertised and supported by students of Carl Sandburg High School.

Orland Park is the touted "World's Golf Center". According to village lore, someone counted 1,089 golf holes within a 15-mile radius of the village, said Jodi Marneris, Orland Park's spokeswoman in 1996. The "World's Golf Center" concept was then proudly plastered on the village flag and painted on the town's seven water towers.

Education Orland Park is served by four grammar school districts, Orland School District #135 (7 primary schools, 3 middle schools: Century Junior High, Jerling Junior High, and Orland Junior High), Community Consolidated School District #146 (4 primary schools, and Central Middle School), Palos School District #118 (2 primary schools, and Palos South Middle School), and Kirby School District #140 (5 primary schools, 2 middle schools: Prairie View Middle School, and Virgil I Grissom Middle School). A majority of Orland Park is within Orland School District #135.

St. Michael School is in Orland Park. A number of other parochial schools in the region provide bus service for Orland Park students.

Orland Park's major high schools are Carl Sandburg High School, Victor J. Andrew High School and Amos Alonzo Stagg High School. CSHS has a little less than 4,000 students. Sandburg has won several Regional, Sectional, and State sports titles over the years. Sandburg's ACT composite score for 2007-08 was 22.7 with SAT scores averaging 635, 644 and 630 for Critical Reading, Math and Writing, respectively.

A number of higher education facilities are in the village. St. Xavier University operates a satellite campus in Orland Park, as did the ITT Technical Institute until its closing in September 2016. Robert Morris University (Illinois) has both an Orland Park campus as well as a second facility in the village, the culinary arts school. Community college education is offered at Moraine Valley Community College, in nearby Palos Hills.

Sixty percent of Orland Park households have someone with at least a bachelor's degree, with a significant number of residents having completed postgraduate work.

Media Local cable television channel Orland Park TV can be viewed on AT&T UVerse Channel 99 and Comcast Channel 4.

Transport Orland Park has three stops on Metra's SouthWest Service, which provides weekday and weekend rail service between Manhattan, Illinois, and Chicago Union Station): 143rd Street, 153rd Street, and 179th Street.

Major highway transportation corridors are: • I-80 southern border of Orland Park • US 45 (La Grange Road) major north–south thoroughfare • IL 43 (Harlem Avenue) near the eastern border of Orland Park • US 6 (159th Street) major east-west thoroughfare • IL 7 another major north-south thoroughfare • CR B59 (167th Street) located entirely in Orland Park.