Oak Park and La Grange will both look a little different by the time the snow melts and trees start to turn green.
Oak Park will have a vast new public space to use at Ridgeland Common, scheduled to reopen in June following a major renovation. By then, a new construction project should be underway at the corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue, where a residential and commercial tower is scheduled to be built.
La Grange will see a renovated Gordon Park open as soon as weather permits, featuring a splash pad and other new amenities. Renovation projects are also expected to be finished at the village’s two train stations.
Here’s a look at what might be coming up in the new year.
Restaurant tax decision
The La Grange Village Board is scheduled to decide early in the year whether to start taxing food and drink sold at restaurants.
Village administrators proposed the tax as a way to close a projected budget shortfall without cutting staff or raising other costs. Under the proposal, a 1 percent tax would be added to prepared food and drinks sold at La Grange’s “places of eating.” Groceries would not be included.
If adopted, the tax would go into effect May 1. La Grange Finance Director Lou Cipparrone has said the tax would bring in about $350,000 in its first year. Two-thirds of the total would likely be paid by nonresidents, Cipparrone estimated.
Lake and Forest project
Developers are scheduled to break ground in May on an $85 million project on the corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue in Oak Park. Project plans include a 204-foot steel-and-glass building with 270 residential rentals, 25,000-square-feet of commercial space and 588 enclosed parking spaces.
The project, which was proposed as a hotel in 2007, was changed to rental units after the economic recession hit the hotel industry, Village of Oak Park Business Services Manager Loretta Daly has said.
Construction had been scheduled to start in September 2013, but developers sought an extension in order to secure financing. The Oak Park Village Board granted the extension after developers, led by Chicago-based firm Golub & Company, agreed to pay more than $350,000 in delay-related costs.
New LTHS principal starts
Brian Waterman, the principal of Hinsdale South High School, will start work as the next principal of Lyons Township High School in July.
Waterman, 39, will replace retiring Principal David Franson, who has been principal at the school for 10 years.
Lyons Township High School District 204 officials selected Waterman from among a pool of more than 50 applicants. Waterman signed a one-year contract with the district with a salary of $163,120.
Waterman has an active Twitter account, and at Hinsdale uses the social media platform to announce school events and news. He plans to continue the practice at Lyons, he said.
Parks reopening
A renovated and expanded Ridgeland Common in Oak Park is tentatively scheduled to open in June. The $23.2 million project, begun in spring 2013, is expected to enlarge the building from 38,000 square feet to 53,000 square feet. Plans include a regulation-size ice rink that will be open year-round, a turf field, new swimming pool features, new activity rooms, a new locker room, updated lighting and fencing and other features. A small dog park in the facility is also scheduled to reopen in spring.
Gordon Park in La Grange is scheduled to reopen in the spring following a $2.2 million renovation and construction project.
The park, located on Ogden Avenue, will open as soon as the ground becomes firm and grass starts to grow in the spring, La Grange Park District Executive Director Dean Bissias said.
The project replaced baseball fields, tennis courts and a basketball court with a splash pad, a pavilion, a performance space, skateboarding ramps, a soccer field, a butterfly garden and other amenities. The project also included drainage improvements for grassy areas, which were often soggy in the spring.
District 97 to purchase iPads for students
Elementary School District 97 plans to purchase iPad minis for all third- to fifth- graders in 2014. The purchase was planned for 2013, but delayed based on concerns from parents about their students carrying the high-priced technology to school. A theft of 47 iPads from school property over the summer added to the district’s caution, District 97 Spokesman Chris Jasculca has said.
District 200 tax cut
Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 taxpayers should see a reduction in property taxes on their spring tax bills.
The District 200 board recently approved a one-year $10 million tax cut as a way to start reducing the district’s unusually large fund balance, which has reached $129 million. The reduction means the owner of an Oak Park home worth $300,000 will pay about $450 less, members of a Finance Advisory Committee have said.
The district’s fund balance is now twice what the district spends in a year. The Finance Advisory Committee recommended the district reduce its reserves to less than 40 percent of what the district spends in a year. The committee recommended reducing the reserve gradually, over 8 to 10 years, to avoid negative financial ramifications that could come from reducing it more quickly. The District 200 board will likely weigh another reduction next year.
Development on former YMCA site
La Grange village officials will continue talks with developers regarding a mixed-use project planned for the corner of La Grange Road and Ogden Avenue.
Minneapolis-based Opus Development Co. is in the process of buying the 4.3-acre lot from YMCA of Metro Chicago for approximately $9 million. The property is the site of the former Rich Port YMCA.
No plans have been drawn yet, but the development that has emerged in preliminary talks includes two buildings – one residential and one commercial, Village President Tom Livingston has said. The residential building would be five stories and would include about 300 condominiums, while the retail building would encompass about 9,000 square feet, Livingston said.
Details such as the development’s impact on traffic and parking, along with the tax revenue it will bring to the village, will emerge as the project progresses.
Local YMCA programs will continue to be run from a 10,000-square-foot space in La Grange Park and in other community buildings. YMCA of Greater La Grange officials have protested the sale and have requested the money from it be set aside for a future Y facility in La Grange. YMCA of Metro Chicago officials have said they will not do that.
La Grange train station repairs
Repairs to two La Grange train stations are expected to be completed in 2014.
A $1 million renovation project at Stone Avenue Station is expected to be completed by the end of May. Construction crews are restoring parts of the station to its original 1901 appearance, while making basic repairs to keep the station in good shape for the future.
A project to repair La Grange’s other station, on Burlington Road, is also expected in 2014. The station was damaged after a driver struck it in December 2012. Repairs were delayed due to a lack of funding in 2013, and are expected to take place in 2014, Metra officials said. The project is expected to cost about $100,000.
Decision on economic development
The Oak Park Village Board plans to make a decision early in 2014 on the future of its economic development program, which could get a major overhaul.
Frustrated with the village’s pace of development, which has lagged behind neighbors such as Berwyn, the board has undertaken a wide-ranging review of what it takes to do business in Oak Park. The review has included assessments of building codes, internal permitting processes and the village’s contractual relationship with Oak Park Development Corporation.
The corporation presented a plan to the board in December to expand its functions but keep its business model essentially the same. Trustees said they wanted to see a plan that included more changes before making a decision on whether to retain the corporation or consider other options. The board planned to restart discussions on economic development in January, and to make a decision on restructuring in the first quarter of 2014.
