Oak Park Village Hall could be demolished despite historic status

Wrecking balls could be coming to Oak Park under a new plan to potentially tear down Village Hall, a municipal hub listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Earlier this month, the village board of trustees voted 5-2 in favor of a plan to demolish the building, which houses both the municipal government and the police department.

If the plan is enacted, a new combination Village Hall and police station will be rebuilt on the old lot, costing close to $140 million.

The rebuilding would address structural issues and Americans with Disabilities Act noncompliance in the whole building, as well as widespread dissatisfaction with the police headquarters.

“When I walk into here … I feel like I’ve been transported into the past every time,” said Trustee Chibuike Enyia, who voted for demolition. “Any police station I’ve seen has had a better setup than us.”

Village Hall, which stands one and a half stories tall, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2014.

It was designed by Harry Weese, a Chicago architect also responsible for the Time-Life Building and the metro system in Washington, D.C.

“(Weese) had a massive influence on architecture in Chicago and in the Midwest in general,” said Oak Park resident Frank Heitzman, who wrote the Historic Places application for Village Hall. “He’s revered among other communities and it’s a puzzle to me why our government in the village didn’t see that.”

Some upgrades have been made to the 1975 building over time, including new heating and cooling systems in the council chambers as well as computer infrastructure and energy-efficient lighting.

However, the charm has worn off on employees, many of whom lack permanent offices and struggle to stay focused in a crumbling building, Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman told trustees earlier this month.

“You can hear every single word that anyone says on the first floor … it’s like a microphone is taking what’s being said on the first floor straight to your desk on the second floor,” Scaman said. “There is not one staircase in this entire building that I consider accessible to a person with disabilities. We’re either freezing or we’re unbearably hot.”

A team from FGM Architects started assessing Village Hall in 2018 with an update in 2022, to identify necessary improvements.

In a presentation to the Oak Park board of trustees earlier this month, FGM principal architect Raymond Lee described the building’s systems and infrastructure as “approaching their ‘end of life.’”

Consultants hired by the village found that with the police department’s layout, interviews with suspects and victims can be public and uncomfortable, according to a June 2022 memo.

Working in a subpar space makes village leaders and police officers alike feel disempowered on the job, Enyia said.

“One of my friends who works on the force said, ‘It’s like you want us to be the ‘93 Bulls, but you’re treating us like we’re the New Mexico Lobos,’” he said.

FGM recommended that the village expand its police department space by just over 42,400 square feet.

Trustees hope a new police station could serve as a better place for child surrenders. The village also wants to improve evidence storage and create space for more technology needed to address computer-based crimes.

Structural flair is taken seriously in the 4.5-square-mile village, where famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright remodeled 23 buildings during his 24-year residence.

In 2022, 86% of Oak Park residents participating in a community survey reported satisfaction with the village’s efforts to preserve historical sites. Attitudes towards new development projects hovered lower, at 49%.

Heitzman got the building approved to the National Register 40 years after it was built. Buildings usually aren’t eligible until they turn 50. A longtime proponent of the building’s architectural value and social justice history — its construction was a tactical move against block-busting, he said — Heitzman felt “blindsided” by the demolition vote.

“It’s interesting how the conversation turned from a new police station to a new village hall,” Heitzman said.

Scaman made it clear that while FGM moves into drawing up schematics, Heitzman and other residents will have a chance to speak out.

“While there has not been a great deal of direct engagement between residents and staff on this topic to this point, we know that there is tremendous interest in this project,” Oak Park spokesperson Dan Yopchick said in a statement to the Tribune.

The design stage could take three to four months, during which large-scale public opposition to demolition could motivate the board to switch plans.

“If we get quick, steady pushback from members of our community, then the minimum is that we know that we want a new police station,” Scaman said at the meeting.

Preservation Oak Park, a local advocacy group, will host public meetings of their own at 7 p.m. July 25 at the Oak Park Library and at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Unity Temple. They’ve invited students and contemporaries of Harry Weese to speak up.

“The worst thing about history is that people forget it,” Heitzman said. “You have to be constantly reminded. Maybe this (vote) is a good thing because it will teach people once more that it’s a good thing to remember the past.”

As the board carried out its vote, rainwater trickled loudly into the room. A summer storm was raging outside, and the Village Hall had already sprung several leaks.