Counter to the claim made by the Park District of Oak Park (PDOP), its Community Recreation Center (CRC) is not net zero energy certified, the finding confirmed in an email from International Living Future Institute (ILFI) (1). It’s the independent organization that PDOP named in An Oct. 28, 2021 news release and lists on its website’s Sustainable Facilities page as having awarded the certification to the CRC (2 & 3). The false net zero energy claim is also promoted on the CRC’s lobby wall display (4a).
ILFI states, “Our records indicate that the Oak Park Community Recreation Center is not yet Zero Energy Certified. The project achieved Ready Status on Jan. 3, 2024, but has not yet submitted for Final Audit with operational data from its 12-month performance period” (1). The CRC officially opened its doors to the public on May 22, 2023, nearly three years ago (5).
PDOP denied a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a copy of the certificate designating the CRC as a net zero energy building, stating that it’s not in possession of the certificate, which aligns with ILFI’s confirmation that it hasn’t awarded one (6).
During the recent pool referendum campaign, PDOP Executive Director Jan Arnold stated that the CRC is a net zero energy facility, a requirement of a $1.78 million grant it received in October 2021, and one that reportedly precludes building the CRC’s promoted Phase II (indoor pools) (7).
PDOP accepted the grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF) five months before PDOP broke ground for the CRC on March 19, 2022. The grant requires that the CRC receive third-party certification, such as ILFI, ensuring the building is net zero energy. In the 2021 news release, PDOP stated that the CRC is slated to receive this certification from ILFI, “Over a 12-month period, projects must achieve a Net Zero Energy building performance (or better). Net Zero Energy buildings offset their own energy consumption by generating required energy onsite from renewable resources” (2).
PDOP didn’t go public with the CRC’s net zero energy requirement for more than four years, waiting until after it placed its vaguely-worded $40 million pool referendum on the ballot in December (7). Uninformed voters could have mistakenly thought the referendum’s intent was to build the promoted indoor pools at the CRC. Regardless, Oak Park voters overwhelmingly rejected the March 17 referendum to demolish Ridgeland Common’s popular outdoor 50-meter pool and replace it with an indoor aquatic facility and smaller pool (8).
In addition to the ICECF grant, PDOP received $400,000 from the village’s Sustainability Fund in March 2021 to make the CRC a zero emissions building (9).
All taxing bodies should act transparently and be accountable to residents. PDOP should delete the false net zero energy claim on its website, the CRC’s lobby display and throughout its building, and refrain from spreading the false information in all communications (10). Likewise four years after the CRC’s groundbreaking, PDOP should be forthcoming with a full, detailed accounting of its funding, which unethically bypassed voters.
Note: After a version of this letter was posted on social media last week, PDOP deleted the false claim on its website’s Sustainability page that the CRC is “ILFI Net Zero Certified.”
Sources are available in the online version of this piece at oakpark.com
Monica Sheehan is a 25-year Oak Park resident and former news reporter.
Sources:
1) International Living Future Institute email: https://www.facebook.com/groups/D200PragmaticSolutions/permalink/4494045020811530
2) PDOP 10/28/21 news release: https://parksfoundationop.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ICECF-Grant-Award-Announcement.pdf#:~:text=A%20generous%20$1.78%20million%20grant%20has%20been,site%20as%20the%20building%20needs%20to%20operate
3) PDOP website Sustainable Facilities page: https://pdop.org/sustainable-facilities/ and screenshot falsely listing the CRC as ILFI Net Zero Certified, taken 3/30/26: https://www.facebook.com/groups/D200PragmaticSolutions/permalink/4500143383535027
4) Screenshot of CRC lobby wall display falsely promoting the CRC as a net zero energy building, taken 4/2/26, and wall display in virtual, but accurate context of the lobby (retrieved 4/4/26 from ‘Virtual Tour’ webpage of PDOP website; https://pdop.org/crc/virtual-tour/) https://www.facebook.com/groups/D200PragmaticSolutions/permalink/4500121460203886
4a) Screenshot of CRC lobby wall display falsely promoting the CRC as a net zero energy building, taken 4/2/26, https://www.facebook.com/groups/D200PragmaticSolutions/permalink/4501005203448845
5) PDOP website CRC opening: https://pdop.org/news/park-district-of-oak-park-celebrates-grand-opening-of-the-new-community-recreation-center/
6) PDOP FOIA response: https://www.facebook.com/groups/D200PragmaticSolutions/permalink/4494047944144571
7) Wednesday Journal 12/23/25 news story: “Parks plan $40M referendum on indoor pool at Ridgeland Common,” https://www.oakpark.com/2025/12/23/parks-plan-indoor-pool-ridgeland-common
8) Wednesday Journal 3/17/26 news story: “Voters sink Oak Park Park District’s indoor pool proposal”, https://www.oakpark.com/2026/03/17/voters-sink-oak-park-park-districts-indoor-pool-proposal/
9) Wednesday Journal 3/22/22 news story: “Park district breaks ground on community rec center”
10) Screenshot of CRC locker room wall display falsely promoting the CRC as a net zero energy building, taken 4/4/26
https://www.facebook.com/groups/D200PragmaticSolutions/permalink/4500162806866418