Those glass and steel structures spanning the Illinois tollways are no mirages.
They are the rehabbed oases.
With $100 million from developer Wilton Partners, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority is creating a concourse experience not unlike that at O’Hare International Airport (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). (Exxon/Mobil kicked in an additional $25 million for service plaza upgrades.)
“I bring visiting business groups to the oasis to look out over Belvidere and see what we have to offer as a transportation hub and manufacturing center,” said Belvidere Mayor Fred Brereton. “You see the Chrysler plant in one direction and NDK in the other.”
Brereton is taking advantage, of course, of 29-feet-high, floor-to-ceiling windows. The architects, Cordigan, Clark & Associates, obviously took note of the 1950s oasis concept by principal architect Charles Genther. Genther, a disciple of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, saw an uncluttered horizontal structure made of glass and steel reinforced concrete. Genther didn’t want oasis buildings interfering with grand vistas.
The view inside is pretty good, too, with the concourse atmosphere leading from one end to the other past expanded food options–Panda Express, Subway and McDonald’s, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Tropicana Smoothies, Bresler’s, Stonebridge Gyros and U Dawg U wieners. Fifth/Third Bank also has oasis branches with automated tellers.
Renovations have been completed at four of the seven oases: Hinsdale, O’Hare and Lake Forest on the Tri-State; and Belvidere on the Northwest. Lake Forest and Hinsdale re-opened just last week, leaving DeKalb (on the Reagan), Des Plaines (on the Northwest) and Lincoln (on the Tri-State) under redevelopment. They are expected to be completed this year.
It’s a far cry from 1959, when the oases had sit-down restaurant service by the Fred Harvey chain–think linen tablecloths and china.
Brereton remembers the oasis in the 1960s, when families stopped for vittles after church.
“I went to the oasis on my first date in 1965,” recalled the mayor, with a hint of a chuckle. “I won’t name the young lady. She still lives here, and I wouldn’t want to embarrass her. We were freshmen in high school. It was a double-date. Boy, that was a big, bold step, I thought.
“You came out to the oasis with your folks for ice cream. You brought out-of-town company to the oasis. It was always a treat.”
About 200,000 cars pass under the O’Hare Oasis on the Tri-State Tollway every day and an estimated 5,000 stop at the oasis. Los Angeles-based Wilton Partners wants to increase that number to 20,000, also drawing business from neighboring towns.
They want you to stop for that box of Krispy Kremes. Or to fill up at the Mobil station. Meet a client there for a quick lunch, etc.
Strolling the main concourse of the new O’Hare Oasis on a recent snowy Thursday morning, Rick Marzec, senior director of Property Management for Wilton Partners mentioned Boy Scout, Girl Scout and church groups are using the facility for evening meetings.
“They might not want to turn heat and lights on at their church or community center,” he said, “but the oasis is always open and we’re happy to have them. It’s all about being part of the community. The Schiller Park Police have meetings here. UPS and Enterprise Rent-a-Car use the oasis for quick meetings. We had about 900 kids visit our Santa Claus over Christmas.
“It’s not uncommon to look around the Oasis in the middle of the day and see a business conference going on over Starbucks coffee.”
Tim Nugent and Jerry Blumenshines had that idea when they met at the O’Hare Oasis to review plans for a Florida golf course project that’s under way. Nugent, the links designer, lives in Vernon Hills. Blumenshines, the developer, drove up from Bloomington.
“I told Tim I wanted to stay on the road in this weather,” said Blumenshines, looking up from the blueprints spread out on a table off to the side, near the windows. “I said, `Where do you want to meet? What’s convenient? The oasis? Fine. Make it the oasis.'”
Exxon/Mobil has expanded its oases operations, too, said sales manager Ben Soraci.
“This is the first time we’ve included carwashes at tollway locations,” he pointed out. “We were curious to see how that would work. If commuters would take the opportunity to stop for a carwash. They’ve far exceeded our expectations, and so has foot traffic into our On the Run convenience stores. The daily cup counts on our Bengal Traders coffee blend keep building. It’s a serious gourmet coffee without all the fuss. “
Blumenshines, the golf course developer, did have one minor criticism of the new oasis. When he learned Marzec was the Wilton Partners honcho on site, he beckoned him and said, “Still no cross-over access? We still can’t leave the oasis [and go] in either direction? It’s not like that everywhere. You’ve seen other places where cars have that option?”
Marzec smiled and shook his head in agreement. A sticky challenge, cross-over access. It’s more an annoyance than a huge complaint.
“We’re working on it,” he told Blumenshines.
