The District 200 pool site evaluation committee believes it will be able to come up with three to four site locations by Dec. 8 to present to the Board of Education, which will ultimately decide on a final location.  

The 15-member committee will start that vetting process at its next meeting Dec. 1. On Monday, the group heard and discussed results from a parking study commissioned by the school board from August.

As reported by Wednesday Journal Nov. 5, the Avenue Garage at Oak Park Avenue and North Boulevard could accommodate some teachers and staff who drive to school if the parking garage is chosen as the pool site.

Public parking on the streets around the school would also have to be made available for students and staff via work with the village, according to Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hara, Aboona, Inc., which conducted the study.

D200 Supt. Steven Isoye also spoke at Monday’s committee meeting at Oak Park River Forest High School, 201 N. Scoville, taking place in the board room.

Relating concerns from faculty and staff, Isoye said teachers are worried that there’s been no alternative parking plan offered thus far in place of the garage. The school, he added, also hosts many events on campus requiring parking for visitors. Isoye also reiterated the need for parking in order to host Illinois High School Association-sponsored games and meets.

Though no specific number of parking spots is stated by IHSA, OPRF Athletic Director John Stelzer said the association requires schools to provide adequate parking based on their size. Stelzer and Isoye noted that parking at OPRF is not perfect but that it is adequate for the current campus.

The committee Monday also began deliberating on new site options. Committee member Ralph Lee, who sits on the D200 school board, offered his own proposal, which calls for building an eight-lane stretch pool in a portion of the southeast corner of the Field House. 

Lee’s plan includes demolishing the current east pool, adjacent lockers, showers and storage facilities in that area. That plan also entails demolishing newly-renovated lockers in the space, something Lee acknowledged would occur under his proposal.

Lee said his plan would not involve having to build into the south Field House gym or the main building. He provided a five-page floor plan to the committee outlining his proposal. His plan would lay the pool north-south in that section of the Field House without impacting the two gyms there, he said.

 Lee maintains that his pool plan would allow for instructional and competitive swimming, as well as diving.

Patrick Brosnan of Legat Architects said at Monday’s meeting that Lee’s basic floor plan does fit in the space but noted a closer look at the design and logistics is necessary. Committee Chair Jeff Weissglass said Legat would look at design and estimated costs of Lee’s proposal by the next meeting.

The floor plan Lee presented to the committee, however, did not show where the pools mechanics would go. Legat’s own designs for the various pool options, both on and off campus, account for where the mechanics and engineering space needed for the pool would go. Legat also notes that constructing a new pool on campus would require space for workers and construction materials, which would impact the immediate surrounding area. Based on Lee’s plan, the two adjacent gyms in that first floor area are the largest available work space for contractors.

The committee Monday looked again at some of Legat’s design options for the southeast corner. Those include building a pool in that space or building one off-campus and recapturing the current east and west pools for other uses. Another option is to build an instruction pool on campus and a larger off-campus pool facility for competitive swimming and community use.

The preliminary costs for some options are upwards of $80-$100 million. Renovating the current east pool, estimated at roughly $18, is another option, but the school would be left with a smaller pool and fewer lanes unable to host competitive swimming or diving. An off-campus competitive pool estimated at around $30-$35 million would be part of this option, according to Legat.

With respect to the parking garage, the committee discussed the possibility of building underground parking at that proposed site, and also if parking spots could be placed on top of the pool facility.

Brosnan said parking on top would be very difficult. With the pool taking up a great deal of space below, providing structural support for vehicles above would be a considerable challenge, he said. As for underground parking with a pool above, one of Legat’s earliest designs from fall 2013 included that option. Estimated between $50 and $70 million, the underground parking option was the most expensive of the early options and was eventually discarded by the D200 board earlier this year.

Putting the pool in the Field House was also taken off the table in ’13, following concerns expressed by track and field coaches, and stakeholders, about disruptions to their program.

As for trying a build in the southwest corner of the Field House where the west pool is currently located, options there are very slim, said Brosnan and Legat’s Rob Wroble. Building out onto the East Mall is not viable due to underground electrical wiring in that area. Replacing and relocating that wiring would be major cost and logistical challenge for the school, according to Brosnan and Wroble. The East Mall is also an emergency and delivery outlet for the school, which would be difficult to replace, the two said.

CONTACT: tdean@wjinc.com