When the Park District of Oak Park started the process of buying Dole Center, 255 Augusta St., from the village of Oak Park, one of the issues that came up was the future of the Oak Park Society of Model Engineers (OPSME) model railroad club, which has leased a portion of the basement since 1979.Â
At the time, park district Executive Director Jan Arnold assured the public that they had no intention of kicking the club out. But she did mention that the park district was interested in working with the club to increase the number of Oak Park members.Â
Which the change of ownership taking effect in June, the two entities have negotiated a new lease, which the park district board approved on July 18.Â
The rent will increase and, for the first time ever, the lease includes a membership goal, stating that the club must recruit at least 27 Oak Park residents by the end of 2020.Â
Arnold said that, out of 35 current members, only nine live in Oak Park.Â
“My job is to define the best use and maximize the space for Oak Park residents,” Arnold told park commissioners at their July 11 committee of the whole meeting.
To that end, the lease calls for the club to recruit at least nine more Oak Park residents by the end of 2019, and to recruit at least 18 more Oak Park residents on top of that by the end of 2020.Â
While falling below those goals wouldn’t automatically end the lease, it would be valid grounds for termination. Arnold said she believed that OPSME should be able to meet that goal, and the park district intends to help them.
In addition to including the club in the fall park district brochure, anyone with an active adult membership can get a discount on membership with the train club.
The railroad club was originally founded in 1964, and their model layouts were originally located at the Barrie Park Recreation Center. It later was moved to Dole Center.Â
According to an April op-ed in the Journal by club president and Oak Park resident Frank Vozak, the club has a large 500-foot-long railroad model and a smaller, still-in-progress model.Â
In addition to those models, the railroad club sets up a model display at Shriners Children Hospital. It regularly sets up displays at events such as Day in Our Village and helps businesses set up their own model train displays. The club gets its funding entirely from membership dues and fundraisers.
Under the new lease, the rent will be $204.11 a month. According to a 1999 intergovernmental agreement between the village, park district and Oak Park Public Library, the train club was to have paid roughly $408 in rent monthly; however, that rate never seems to have been enforced.
Arnold said in an email that model railroad club members told her they’d been paying $87.86 per month since they first moved into the Dole Center space.
“They’re fine with [the rate increase]; they recognize that they should be paying more,” Arnold told park commissioners earlier this month.
The railroad club also agreed to expand its hours. Under the current schedule, the space is open to the public on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Fridays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.Â
The new lease will require them to be open to the public for at least six hours a week, with at least two of those hours falling on either Saturday or Sunday.Â
Arnold said she believed that there is plenty of untapped potential.Â
“It really needs to be an asset for the community, and we’re working with them to help with their marketing, to let [Oak Parkers] know they’re there,” Arnold said. “I think that was a hidden secret on the north side, just like the conservatory was hidden secret on the south side.”
