In recent years, we have seen unprecedented cooperation and collegiality between our units of local government. I think it is time to build on this spirit, to develop a collaborative process to start putting more “dots” on the architectural map of Oak Park.
Oak Park derives substantial revenue from architectural tourism, but we haven’t added to our remarkable collection in a long time. Our next opportunity for world-class design excellence is the new District 97 headquarters building. Right now, D97 is weighing whether to use the same architect they retained to do their roof repairs to also do the new headquarters. It’s a decent, qualified firm from an open public process, but we should be seeking the very best.
Such an effort may well impact the schedule for the new building — but is that really the only priority here? After taking years to figure out the how and where, should we race past this opportunity?
As a former elected member of a taxing body (Oak Park Township), I know we need to be frugal. If we follow an existing model, it need not balloon the project’s cost. In fact, I would suggest that such efforts are a measurable net gain for our municipal budgets. Enhancing architectural tourism yields more great buildings along with gains in local sales and sales taxes. This is a win-win.
The idea is for the village to marshal our own variant of what is done in Columbus, Indiana. Sixty years ago, the Cummins Foundation offered to help fund architectural fees for all of the town’s public buildings if they were allowed to put together the short list of architects. The result is that it is the only other architectural mecca in the U.S. comparable to Oak Park that is not a big city.
There are nonprofits in the Chicago area already qualified to step in and be a neutral arbiter to work with us to do this, including the Graham Foundation, the Chicago Architectural Foundation, and the American Institute of Architects.
If this process had been done with the two middle schools, or the public works building, they would already be newer dots on the map. While our new library is a fine building, even that could have been more of an attraction if we went beyond the usual suspects one gathers through a traditional RFQ process.
And that’s the thing — they would come here! Bilbao, Spain got Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum, but they had to spend lavishly to do it. Oak Park does not. Top architects around the world would fit into whatever circumstance we needed in order to get the chance to do a building in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park.
To their credit, D97’s leaders have been open to discussing this, and clearly this isn’t just about one building. Solving the issues with the natatorium at OPRF is also going to require more than garden-variety architectural creativity. All the more reason to start this now.
Eric Davis is an Oak Park architect who also teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a former Oak Park Township trustee.