With news that Mohr Concrete has sold off its fleet of cement mixers, it is now inevitable that the three-acre property at Harlem and Garfield will soon be on the market.
A year ago, Wednesday Journal reported that the 126-year-old, family-owned company was on the ropes, out of the cement business and down to selling off an odd inventory of sand and sewer lids. While it is sad to see a venerable company come to this end, it is, in truth, good news and a good opportunity for Oak Park and this southwest Oak Park neighborhood.
Long out of place in a residential community, the diminishing fortunes of Mohr Concrete led to continuous decay of its highly visible physical plant. We’ll miss the torpedo on display. We’ll miss the Christmas tree high atop the conveyor system. We won’t miss the crumbling walls, the dust, the truck traffic on side streets.
What’s next is the overarching question. Oak Park and its economic development arm at OPEDC have been respectfully quiet as Mohr worked toward an exit strategy. Viktor Schrader of OPEDC told the Journal last week there has been some interest from a diverse group of developers but that the village is waiting to see the next steps the family takes.
An early question will be what, if any, environmental issues exist on a block square industrial site after a century-plus of use. Next, given the continuing diminishment of demand for retail and the active pros and cons of a very busy Harlem Avenue location, what are the commercial prospects for the Ike-proximate site. Or is the future residential? And what would that look like? Should village government maximize its return on the single largest open site Oak Park is likely to see in a long while? Or, should a quiet neighborhood that has long endured a messy commercial incursion into its midst be allowed a more modest development?
We are moving steadily toward a time for discussion and decisions.
