WEB EXTRA! Updated Tuesday 9:30 p.m.
It’s not often that Oak Park village board meetings end at 9:30 p.m., let alone with applause, and with consultants, government officials, business owners and community members shaking hands and patting each other’s backs.
But that was the scene last Thursday night after the board unanimously and enthusiastically gave the go-ahead on redesigning the Marion Street mall.
Since November, consultants met with an ad hoc design committee to choose the look and feel of materials used in remaking the mall into a pedestrian-focused area that includes two-way vehicular traffic and 11 on-street parking spaces.
The process is not finished, but the village will hire a construction company to hang a price tag on the estimated $5 million project. Much of the cost will come in infrastructure changes, including a new water main, improving the sewer main, and installing new water and sewer service to buildings on the mall.
The look of the new Marion Street is intended to pull from historic elements in Oak Park, such as a return to real brick pavers in the street. “Blue stone” pavers will line the sidewalks, and the curbs on streets and by planters will be light gray granite.
“The goal here was to create a family of materials” from which elements could be used throughout Downtown Oak Park, said Scott Freres, a consultant with the Lakota Group.
The street rises to meet the sidewalk at the Marion/Westgate intersection, above which hangs a metal canopy with suspended lighting.
To the east of the intersection, a decorative water fountain is planned.
The green space where the former Sawyer Business College once stood will become a temporary parking lot with 26 spaces. After a garage planned for North Boulevard is built, the lot could be retooled into green space or sold for development.
Some trustees supported the latter option Thursday, as a means to help defray the cost of the project.
More trees would line the streets in the new proposal than are on the mall today.
Environmentally friendly elements are being considered, including a rainwater catch basin to reuse water for irrigating trees and plants. Geothermal heating and cooling is being considered, too.
Sidewalks will likely be heated-either geothermally or electronically-so that the stone materials will not be damaged by shoveling or salt. Heated sidewalks are historically accurate-an underground heating system existed in Oak Park in the early years of the 20th century-and don’t require much energy to warm snow to the melting point, Freres said.
Sidewalks will be 18 feet wide (from curb to building) at some points and just less than 10 feet at their most narrow. Sidewalks won’t be just for walking though. They will also feature cafe tables, benches and planters.
Oak Park will need to alter its zoning laws to allow cafe seating away from buildings, so that pedestrians can walk next to shops and restaurants.
Trustee Ray Johnson said the design elements were “absolutely exciting” and “well beyond my expectations.”
Members of the committee who addressed the board said that, although members disagreed on many issues, decisions were made and the group kept moving ahead.
Historic Preservation Commissioner Bob Lempera, who is also a member of the committee, praised the design for being “both practical and human in scale.”
Not reflected at the meeting was a seemingly growing group of citizens opposed to opening the mall to vehicular traffic. Opinions expressed in recent letters to the editor and an online petition show support for the unique space and question whether the $5 million cost will be worth it.
The petition, which was circulated beginning early Thursday morning, had more than 150 signatures by midday Tuesday. Click here to get to the online petition.
Village staff members expect to have a guaranteed maximum price agreement for the board to approve at its April 2 meeting.
CONTACT: dcarter@wjinc.com
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