Oak Park and River Forest High School is looking for the opportunity to host football playoff games at night and is seeking approval from the Village of Oak Park to do so.
While it may have seemed that such a request was taken care of when the stadium lights issue was finally settled in 2009, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The high school is looking to amend the ordinance that gave OPRF the go-ahead to install lights at its Lake Street stadium for a set number of regular season night home games. The high school wants the ordinance to allow for “any applicable Illinois High School Association playoff games for the fall sports season.” Some neighbors are reportedly opposed to the school’s request.
The ordinance, as currently written, does not allow for nighttime playoff games — OPRF has hosted three playoff games in the last five years. The team made the playoffs last season but that was an away game.
If the village approves the ordinance change, it’s unlikely that the high school would host more than one nighttime playoff game a season if the team manages to go to the post-season, says Supt. Steven Isoye. The IHSA, he says, wouldn’t give a school the advantage of hosting multiple playoff games.
The village will consider OPRF’s proposal in July, with a vote on the request in August, Isoye said. The high school is not looking to add more Friday night regular season games, which are currently limited to no more than five, Isoye said.
The stadium lights saga was a long, drawn out and bitterly-contested battle between OPRF and neighbors who live around the school. Multiple lawsuits were filed by neighbors to stop lights from going up, which ultimately happened in summer 2009. The issue of whether to install lights first bubbled up in the early 2000s before being approved by the District 200 Board of Education in spring 2006. It would take about two more years — and hours and hours of deliberations before various village zoning and planning commissions — before stadium lights were approved.
Isoye, who’s been superintendent for about four years now, noted that that was before his tenure. Per the agreement to install lights, a Stadium Neighborhood Advisory Committee was created. Isoye said he presented its proposal to the committee prior to going to the village. He said most of the neighbors are opposed to the idea of night playoff games.
Village trustees will begin deliberating the proposal July 7 and anticipate a vote on Aug 4.
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