Dear Historic Preservation Commissioners,
Your dedication to the protection of Oak Park’s architectural history is deeply appreciated by those of us who value preservation. Your mission to balance preservation and development in accordance with a set of architectural guidelines has been essential to Oak Park’s reputation as a destination for those who appreciate carefully preserved structures of the rare and irreplaceable kind.
The fact that Oak Park’s Board of Trustees disagrees with your carefully considered assessment of a proposed 10-story tower attached to a historic landmark in the Pleasant District is disheartening. Their failure to respect your analysis of this proposal does not in any way minimize the opinion of the vast majority of Oak Park residents who will continue to appreciate all you do to not be swayed by political priorities.
In the enduring words of Frank Lloyd Wright, “What is needed most in architecture today is the very thing that is most needed in life: integrity.”
Lisa Marquardt
Oak Park