Oak Park leaders move to pursue renovation rather than demolition of historic Village Hall
The Oak Park Village Hall, administration offices and the police station at 123 Madison St., is seen here on July 18, 2023. The iconic '70s architecture-style building could potentially be demolished despite holding landmark status.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 due largely to its role in fighting blockbusting, a discriminatory scare tactic to uphold housing segregation, in 1970s Oak Park.Village President Vicki Scaman attended a meeting of about 30 preservation advocates last week. There, she pledged that the board would focus on renovation and hire a preservation consultant, said resident and preservationist Frank Heitzman.
The Oak Park Village Hall is seen on July 18, 2023. The village will pursue a previously rejected plan to renovate the existing building instead of demolition. However, the board will separately hire a historic preservation consultant to assess the building before a final vote takes place. Using FGM’s new list of what Oak Park needs in a village hall, the consultant would present a plan for how the building could be renovated while still addressing FGM’s findings.The two firms might present different priorities, Scaman said — which could still be useful in informing board members’ votes.
FGM already completed an assessment for what a new police station would need. However, the village has not yet commissioned a similar assessment for remodeling Village Hall, given that the initial vote was to demolish the building, Scaman said.Trustee Ravi Parakkat, the only dissenting vote, said the needs assessment for renovation should have happened before July’s vote. Asking FGM to switch tracks now could interfere with the board’s commitment to transparency, he said.
Daniel Roush, an architect based in Oak Park, shares Parakkat’s concerns. At Monday’s meeting, he pointed out that the firm was initially hired to work on plans for just a new police station.
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