I am not going to deny that Oak Park Village Hall needs to be replaced. I acknowledge that the subject matter experts — the people who work in it every day — would be able to determine this much better than I can. I just hope that if it is determined that we ultimately need a new building, we end up getting a boring old cheap building for this use.
I am sure people will come out of the woodwork clamoring for something “architecturally significant” or “interesting,” ignoring that this is how we got to the point where we need to replace the current building. This is how our town ended up with the world’s fanciest garage and will eventually end up with the $100 million pool voters rejected previously.
Let’s just build a boring old tilt-up building like the ones literally millions of people in our region work in every day! Make it functional and flexible instead of fancy. Give the taxpayers of Oak Park a break for once.
Before you support a fancy and expensive building, remember that we are gaining an increasing-by-the-day quantity of Oak Park residents who literally have no home to live in. The time has come for practicality over luxury.
Don Anderson
Oak Park
