A $1.1 million playground improvement project at Lincoln Park’s Oscar Mayer Magnet School will be partly paid for through Open Space Impact Fees (OSIF) under a financing proposal approved by City Council today.

The $450,000 in OSIF funding will reimburse Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for the cost of a new rubber-surfaced basketball court, a public plaza, drainage infrastructure, and a drinking fountain outside the school at 2250 N. Clifton Ave. CPS will pay the balance of project costs.

The Open Space Impact Fee program leverages fees paid by residential construction projects to help offset the impact of new residents on a community area’s public open spaces. Funds raised by the program are used for open space projects within the community area’s boundaries.