I just saw the article about Oak Park receiving the honor of being named one of the 50 best places in the world to visit. That’s great. We can be proud of that.
What we cannot be proud of is what’s going to happen when even more tourists arrive in town than we already have. What are they going to be greeted with? An embarrassing dirty Metra station? If they drive, they won’t have to deal with that, but I know when I go to a town for the first time, what do I immediately ask people? Where is the tourist office? That’s where I always go. In Oak Park the answer is, there isn’t one. That is something that needs to be changed.
I was very surprised when the Visitors Bureau storefront downtown closed a few years ago. After all, it was manned by volunteers and selling merchandise, so I can’t imagine it was a huge financial burden. Visit Oak Park is doing some wonderful things. They were a tremendous help to the Oak Park IL Film Festival last year.
Has anyone approached them lately to see if the current management is willing to work with the village on creating a new space? If they aren’t, the village should just go ahead and form a committee and get it done. The village needs to think creatively. At one time that space was in a village parking garage. Could that happen again? What about the Housing Bureau office? Maybe that office could be shared with or become the tourist office. Maybe a bank would be willing to give some space. What about the library? There are other possibilities.
Think creatively. Think of the tax revenue from increased tourism. It’s something that really needs to happen. It would also make me look at a candidate in a more favorable light if they were working on that issue.
Joyce Porter
Oak Park