Oak Park village trustees once again expressed worries about the potential high cost of building a new police station and remodeling Village Hall as Johnson Lasky Kindelin Architects work to produce three schematic designs for consideration.
The village board hired JLK back in December for this work, in an amount not to exceed $1.85 million. But the schematic design phase isn’t the final step. Once presented on March 18, trustees will provide feedback to help further narrow down a design.
Cost estimates will be included in that presentation from JLK to the board, but the final numbers will depend on board decisions on what to include.
“We’re going to have to make some tough decisions,” Village President Vicki Scaman said.
In December, Public Works Director Rob Sproule said village staff negotiated the agreement with JLK based on an estimate of the project costing $120 million, but some trustees aren’t happy with that number.
The total project cost is still yet to be determined.
Since December, JLK architects have met with community members, sent out surveys to residents and hosted a “charrette” – meeting of all stakeholders – to hear ideas. On Tuesday, they heard from the village board again.
Charrette
Meg Kindelin, president of JLK, said village staff, police members, facility review committee representations, landscape architects, sustainability experts and structural engineers were all present at the charrette. Designers from Dewberry, who have designed one of the only few net-zero greenhouse gas emission police stations in the United States, were also present.
The charrette meeting, which included collaborative exercises and questions, produced several conclusions to help achieve the goals of an open, transparent government and police structure.
“This building clearly no longer conveys, in a functional way, that sense of open government,” said Colette Lueck, facility review committee co-chair.
The stakeholders agreed the existing Village Hall and new police station should be connected by a welcome center.
The group agreed more community spaces should be included on the municipal campus, and entry should be on Lombard Street.
Visitor parking will be shared, with an emphasis on green space as well, according to the charrette attendees. They also want the building to prioritize use of natural materials.
Safety will be a top consideration for the project, but a welcoming and visible campus is key, too, according to the stakeholders.
They want the municipal campus to “feel like home and [focus on] the wellness of all who work there and visit.” And the council chambers should be fully accessible, inclusive and safe, they agreed.
These conclusions are all subject to how and if the board decides to implement them.
Trustee feedback
Several trustees expressed concern about the cost of the project, emphasizing they don’t want to overburden residents with paying for it.
For example, the charrette produced the idea of underground parking in the remodel, which would allow village staff a safer environment. But it’s up to the board to determine whether that additional expense is needed.
“I struggle with the expense of the Village Hall renovation but one of the most significant problems I have with Village Hall…is it is not an inclusive structure and there are many people in our community who cannot access village government in the way that they deserve to because our structure is hostile to them,” Trustee Brian Straw said.
Trustee Lucia Robinson asked village staff to come back to the board with an analysis of the potential property tax implications on residents for the design options. At the $120 million estimate for this project, Robinson said the Oak Park Township Assessor told her that it could have quite a significant impact on property tax bills.
Village Manager Kevin Jackson clarified that analysis might be difficult to produce as several funding sources, such as grants or other partnerships, could be bankrolling the project, too. So, estimates will be incomplete, but trustees said they still want to see one to get a general idea. Trustee Ravi Parakkat pointed out that the board can’t bank on having other funding, either.
“It’s easy to talk about values, and values need to be the basis of our decision, but if inclusivity is a value then the price point and how it lands on the community is going to be impacting inclusivity,” Parakkat said.
He also emphasized that the average Oak Parker spends little time in Village Hall, and having to spend a lot of money to renovate it could push people away from the village.
Scaman, however, pointed out that despite trustees’ cost concerns, there is still a significant cost to just maintaining the building as is. And costs of construction are only getting more and more expensive each year.
“In 2019, the previous board voted ‘No’ on a police station,” she said. “So, pushing things down the road is not benefitting our residents either.”
Jonathan Tallman from Dewberry also clarified that part of the cost for a new police station is requirements for it to be storm shelter capable, able to withstand an earthquake, and bullet resistant while still being open and inviting.
Still, overall project cost remains a top concern among trustees.
“I don’t want to spend $100 million on buildings that in 2040 lots of people won’t even go into,” Trustee Cory Wesley said, adding that young people are less likely than folks today to engage with village services in person. “I can envision a Village Hall in 20 years as half empty or less while we’re still paying for it. That would be, I think, a waste of money.”