Fort Sheridan , Illinois Fort Sheridan is a residential neighborhood spread among Lake Forest , Highwood , and Highland Park in Lake County , Illinois , United States . It was originally established as a United States Army Post named after Civil War Cavalry General Philip Sheridan , to honor his services to Chicago . When the main fort was officially closed by the Army on 3 May 1993 , the majority of the property was sold by the Department of Defense to commercial land developers . Most of the original housing structures were then refurbished and resold as a residential community . Other buildings were given to cultural organizations like Midwest Young Artists , the largest youth music program in the Midwest . Approximately 90 acres of the southern end of the original post were retained by the Army ; there the Army now operates the Sheridan Reserve Center complex . History . The Commercial Club of Chicago , concerned since 1877 with the need for a military garrison , was motivated by the Haymarket Riot in 1886 to arrange for the donation of 632 acres ( 2 . 6 km² ) of land to the Federal Government for this purpose . Troop s arrived in November 1887 to what was initially called Camp Highwood . A year later , Camp Highwood was renamed Fort Sheridan . Troops stationed at Fort Sheridan were used in 1894 to quell labor unrest during the Pullman Strike . Fort Sheridan became a mobilization and training center beginning with the Spanish - American War in 1898 . Following World War I , Fort Sheridan processed nearly 20 , 000 returning wounded soldiers and helped them return to civilian life through physical and occupational training reenter the workforce . During World War II , over 500 , 000 men and women were processed through military service . Many army officers who later became famous lived there , including George Patton and Jonathan Wainwright . The 174th Military Police Battalion of the Leavenworth , Kansas National Guard was stationed there in 1950 . Fort Sheridan served as the base for supplying and servicing Nike antimissile systems in the upper Midwest from 1953 to 1973 , at which point it returned to providing administrative and logistical support services . The 94 buildings in the Historic District , built between 1889 and 1910 , include 64 structures that were the first major works of the architectural firm Holabird & Roche of Chicago . These earliest buildings are made of bricks molded and fired on site , using clay mined from lakefront bluffs . The water tower , originally the tallest structure in the Chicago area , was altered and shortened by 60 feet ( 18 m ) in 1940 . The row of buildings flanking the tower were troop barracks . The 110 acre ( 450 , 000 m² ) Historic District , placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 , was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1984 . In 1979 , the site was documented by the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey . In 1979 , director Robert Redford used a warehouse on the base to build interior sets for his Oscar - winning film Ordinary People . Fort Sheridan closed in 1993 . The decision to close Fort Sheridan came in the 1989 first round of base closings under the Base Realignment and Closure Act ( BRAC ) . An Army Reserve base continues to use about of the original Post . The remaining property is divided between the Lake County Forest Preserves , a residential development , a Navy family housing development for personnel of nearby Great Lakes and a variety of ongoing commercial developments . Environmental concerns . The geological setting of Fort Sheridan is tableland above a high bluff in an area cut by seven deep ravines . The bluff overlooks Lake Michigan and the ravines create an open face in the bluff at the beach ’ s edge . Over the years , the Army filled in the ravines with waste generated by military operations . The most toxic waste was placed in the Wells Ravine , also known as Landfill 7 . The United States Environmental Protection Agency considers Landfill 7 to be a Superfund National Priorities List ( NPL ) location . The landfills were not operated in an environmentally sound manner . An IEPA permit was not issued while the landfill was operating , and a high - density plastic containment liner was not used between the ravine and the waste . Regulatory oversight did not begin until 1979 when the State of Illinois commenced litigation . An operating permit was issued two months after the landfill ceased operations . The Army then applied for a closure permit , installed a leachate collection system , and placed a clay cap over Landfill 7 . By 1982 , the cap had failed due to ponding of water and the failure of the leachate collection system to collect leachate . The Army stated that the cap failure was caused by failure to maintain the cap . By 1989 , Fort Sheridan was facing potential closure by the Base Realignment and Closure commission . The Army began evaluating the permanent closure of Landfill 7 and the inherent problems with its maintenance . Because Landfill 7 had been dispensing 14 , 000 gallons of leachate per day into Lake Michigan , and the leachate was above state environmental effluent standards , CERCLA allowed the Army to implement an interim remedy prior to deciding on a permanent remedy . The Army chose to construct a $ 16 million cap . Public comments for this interim action opposed the cap , focusing on the Army ' s characterization of the type of waste in the landfill , the geologic instability of the ravine and bluff environment , and the proximity to Lake Michigan from which local drinking water is drawn . The Army responded that the cap was an interim solution that was thought to be effective for temporary containment of the waste . After the interim containment remedy was selected on April 22 , 1997 , the Army brought in Dr . Shabica to evaluate the shore protections as part of the design phase . On December 2 , 1997 , he informed the Army that the cap , as designed , would fail due to erosion . The Army responded by purchasing a new system designed by Dr . Shabica ' s company . The interim cap was completed in June 2004 , and the Army may propose making capping the final remedy based on the same analysis that supported the interim action . The decision to cap Landfill 7 as the final remedy conflicts with some of the recommendations of the geological community . The Army is the lead agency in determining cleanup alternatives . Opponents claim the Analysis of Alternatives found in the remedial investigation , remedial action , and feasibility study was skewed in favor of the Army ’ s preferred remedy which was less expensive . According to the FY2006 Defense Environmental Restoration Program Annual Report To Congress , US $ 58 . 7 million in cleanup funding had been appropriated for Fort Sheridan . Estimated cost to completion was US $ 22 . 2 million estimated for FY2003 .