A consistent thread in talks about development in Oak Park is the idea of quality architecture. Based on that assertion, Village Manager Tom Barwin last week convened a public meeting at the Nineteenth Century Club, 178 Forest Ave., designed to find out what great architecture looks like to Oak Parkers.
The meeting was dual-purpose, serving also as an early public meeting on the possible redevelopment of the corner of Forest Avenue and Lake Street, which could involve rebuilding a village-owned garage there.
More than 130 people attended the meeting, and the first 100 got handheld voting devices to record their reactions to various examples of great architecture worldwide. Voters seemed to dislike Frank Gehry’s “Fred and Ginger” building in Prague (39 percent hated it), but liked his pavilion in Millennium Park (33 percent loved it).
Also, confusion swirled through the crowd as voting began, with people not understanding at first how to use the machines, and, later, what exactly they were voting for-Do I like it? vs. Is this building right for the corner of Lake and Forest?
Midway through the voting, a man turned to someone and asked for a reminder-does voting a “1” mean I like it or hate it?
Immediately after the voting, Barwin said, “I’m not sure what all that means, but you all deserve a round of applause.” He later said, though, that meaning could be found in the results, especially because great architecture tends to elicit polarized responses.
“I think it went great,” Barwin said. “This was our first try at something like this.”
Adding to the voting results were oral comments made at the end of the meeting and more than 100 written comments, Barwin said. The information will be compiled and delivered to the village board as it decides whether it wants to forge a partnership with Michael Glazier, the lead developer with Sertus Capital Partners, which owns the Lake/Forest corner property and has a contract to buy the parking lot from Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake St.
The Greater Downtown Master Plan calls for the redevelopment of the corner, including the village’s parking garage. Because such a partnership would include publicly-owned land, a development would need to follow the village’s participatory planning process. Barwin said he believes last Wednesday night’s meeting “met the spirit of the public participation process, at least as a starting point.”
After the meeting, Glazier said the architecture firm he uses, A. Epstein & Sons, has an international reputation that speaks for itself. The firm worked on the United Airlines terminal at O’Hare, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Harold Washington Library in Chicago.
“We’re looking to do something we’ll be proud of, and it will certainly be a vast improvement over what’s there now,” Glazier said.
Tim Wittman, an adjunct professor of historic preservation at the School of the Art Institute, began the discussion on architecture by calling it “the universal and essential art form.” He said he is a preservationist, but that, to him, does not mean preserving every old building at all costs. And sometimes it means building tomorrow’s treasures. “We, too, are capable of great design,” he said.
Wittman said great architecture is utilitarian, is high quality, engages its surroundings, and has the power to give identity to a place. Architecture can create “branding” in the way that the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty can represent Paris, London and New York.
Wittman said Oak Park is known for its architecture. “I don’t blow smoke. I am in awe of your village. I can’t afford the taxes, but I am in awe.”‘
Glazier later said Oak Park’s architectural gems are in residential areas, rather than in commercial areas. He said one of the village’s best buildings, the old Elks Club, was torn down to build the Forest/Lake parking garage.
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