The District 97 Board of Education, Nov. 18, gave the go ahead for its architect to design its new headquarters.
STR Partners will oversee the project. Their other work in the district has included heating and cooling upgrades in the schools the past summer.
The company’s current contract with the district was amended to reflect its work on the new headquarters, which is poised to replace the former Volvo car dealership at 260 Madison St. once that deal is finalized with the village.
The D97 board will not postpone its plans to break ground on a headquarters next spring in order to pursue a new nonprofit model to construct public buildings in Oak Park pitched by a former village official.
Eric Davis, an architect himself and former Oak Park Township trustee, wants D97 to consider an alternative process for designing its new headquarters rather than simply turning the project over to STR, which D97 administration had preferred.
Prior to the board’s vote last Tuesday, Davis was urging D97 to open the project up to other firms via a collaborative, nonprofit model. Under this model, all public building proposals would be vetted through a nonprofit entity, according to Davis, who wrote an op-ed piece in Wednesday Journal Nov. 12, explaining his idea.
“The idea is for the village to marshal our own variant of what is done in Columbus, Indiana,” Davis said. “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.”
Davis described STR as 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?” Davis asked.
Chicago-area nonprofits, like Chicago Architectural Foundation, and American Institute of Architects, could work with Oak Park on the developing this model, Davis said.
In an interview prior to the board’s vote, Bob Spatz, president of the D97 school board, said such a model was worth discussing with respect to future public buildings. For D97’s proposed headquarters, the district still prefers having STR oversee the project, Spatz said. The board discussed the possibility of hiring STR at its Nov. 4, regular meeting and gave the go-ahead last week.
The board’s Facilities Advisory Committee, which consults the district on construction projects, vetted STR’s proposal at its Nov. 12, session. According to Spatz, the FAC was pleased with STR’s work.
As for Davis’ suggestion, D97 board members last week said it has some merit for future buildings. Members also believed that STR is capable of designing a state-of-the-art building.
The next step is for the firm to host public forums getting community input on the building’s design and function, Spatz said.
Correction: The work on the the district’s playgrounds was done by outside firm, Chicago-based Altamanu.