The Oak Park Historic Preservation Commission will rule Oct. 30 on whether to allow West Suburban Medical Center to tear down the graystone two-flat that stands in the way of its planned 27,000-square-foot emergency room expansion.
The commission will resume a public hearing then that began last Thursday evening at Oak Park Conservatory. The hospital needs a Certificate of Appropriateness to demolish the 209 N. Humphrey Ave. building, regarded as a “contributing” structure in the Ridgeland-Oak Park Historic District.
If the commission were to deny the request, the hospital could appeal the decision to the village board.
The building stands alone on the block, on the southwest corner of West Sub’s campus.
That, the hospital argued, is why the 104-year-old graystone should be allowed to be torn down.
At Thursday night’s portion of the hearing, the hospital relied almost entirely on the testimony of Victoria Granacki, principal with Granacki Historic Consultants, who argued that the building was too isolated to be considered worth preserving.
“There is no neighborhood context remaining that this building contributes to,” Granacki said. “The historic context it once fit into no longer exists.”
The hospital previously demolished other historic buildings to make room for its parking garage and parking lots, she said.
Granacki also argued that the building is “not individually architecturally significant.” Of the 10 other detached, two-flat graystones in the district, the Humphrey building is “certainly not the best.”
A remodeled porch detracted from the two-flat’s historical significance, as did the facts that the building’s architect is not known, nor did any historically significant people live there, she said.
Granacki said the boundary of the historic district was weak in the area near the hospital. “I guess if it were my call I’d think it advantageous to alter the boundary,” she said.
West Sub had prepared to give the commission more information on its expansion plans and the importance of a new ER, but the commission’s attorney, Richard F. Friedman, advised the body to hear only evidence and testimony germane to its decision on issuing the demolition certificate.
Friedman said the commission’s role is “narrow” in determining whether the hospital’s proposed removal of the building would be proper under the law. Whether the new ER is necessary to the hospital or what its benefits to the community might be are “questions for other [government] bodies,” Friedman said.
But Friedman did not just advise the board. He also tenaciously cross-examined the hospital’s expert witness, and asked that Granacki not consult with the hospital’s attorney after he asked her questions.
His questioning revealed that Granacki did not address the village’s historic preservation laws when determining whether the building should be considered historic because “none” of the village’s stipulations “seemed relevant to the question at hand.” She said she instead based her decision on standards of the National Register of Historic Places.
Mike Bielawa, who lives just west of the site of the proposed expansion, spoke in support of granting the hospital the demolition permit. He said even if the building were preserved, it could not be rented or sold.
“Nothing will be preserved by denying this petition,” Bielawa said.
Five neighbors spoke against the demolition. Joe Steffen, of the 200 block of North Taylor, suggested the hospital move the historic building within its campus, closer to three homes on the 300 block of North Humphrey Avenue.
The hospital owns one of the buildings, a home at 329 N. Humphrey. West Sub CEO Jay Kreuzer said the building is within the boundary established by Oak Park’s 1990 Comprehensive Plan as the limits of hospital expansion. He said the hospital has no plans for the building right now.
Kreuzer added, “We won’t consider moving [the 209 N. Humphrey two-flat] on hospital property.”
CONTACT: dcarter@wjinc.com