I was driving down Linden Avenue from Chicago Avenue and reached the corner of Linden and Iowa streets. I hit the brakes in shock. There on the corner was a historic house which I had long admired. It was painted entirely black! It is a brick house, formerly natural brick with a natural stucco second floor. The house, trim, brick wall across the garden on Iowa Street and the brick garage were entirely painted black.
This is nothing but vandalism on the part of the owners. They have destroyed a historic Oak Park house for the sake of their style preferences.
The village must do something about this asap. A law or ordinance must be passed quickly before more historic Oak Park houses have their brick painted. Once a brick house is painted, it is ruined. It is almost impossible to remove paint from brick without damaging the brick, ruining the historic appearance, causing crumbling, leaks and other adverse conditions, not to mention ruining the historic character of the house.
Please, please, village government: do something to forbid this before it spreads.
Kathleen Hopkins
Oak Park
