In 2024, Oak Park and River Forest High School will begin a nearly $102 million construction project to raze the antiquated southeast corner of its building—currently used for the physical education program, as well as athletics—and bring it into the 21st century.
The southeast wing, which includes the 1928-era girls’ pool, will be replaced with a new 10-lane pool and spectator gallery, larger multi-use gymnasiums suitable for use as competition spaces, and locker rooms, and will include gender neutral locker rooms, training rooms, a dance studio, a yoga studio, and a new Green Room and property storage for the high school’s drama program.
The high school will continue to offer traditional athletic programs while expanding its curricular offerings to include a focus on helping students develop the overall wellness skills that will serve them well throughout their lives, according to Dr. Greg Johnson, school superintendent.
Having more gymnasiums that are larger will also allow the high school to host more extracurricular events at home. On the curricular side, the high school will continue to develop and enhance the programming already in place.
“The pool is part of our overall strategy to enable all of our varsity programs, with the exception of golf, to have a home on our campus,” Dr. Johnsons says. “First, we are not able to have any diving in our school as a result of the antiquated spaces we have. Currently, students travel to Riverside-Brookfield High School for diving practice. That transport time cuts into all aspects of their lives. So this is a huge benefit to our students. The same is also true of our track and field renovation.”
Given the anticipated cost of the project, some community members have expressed concern that it would increase the tax burden and make the community less affordable to residents who are low income, a population that disproportionately includes people of color.
Dr. Johnson emphasizes that funding for Project 2 will come from three sources: the district’s current fund balance, private fund raising, and through borrowing at a level that will not exceed its current tax burden for the community.
Another concern that has been raised pertains to racial equity and whether this is the best use of funds to serve all OPRF students. Dr. Johnson explains that improving facilities and working toward racial equity are not mutually exclusive. “I understand the concern and share the values to ensure we are serving the educational and academic needs of all our students–and in a way that is consciously and deliberately focused on racial equity concerns in our community and country. It is the number one priority,” he says.
He goes on to point out that academics will continue to receive ample support. “We need to keep in mind, as far as our yearly operational costs are concerned, that District 200 is funded at 138 percent of what the state deems as adequate. We are blessed to be in a community that supports education as strongly as it does,” he says.