W E D N E S D A Y
May 3, 2017 Vol. 35, No. 37 ONE DOLLAR
@oakpark @wednesdayjournalinc
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
Mother’s Day Page 25
Downtown Oak Park backs Albion tower Letter to Oak Park Board of Trustees says corner lot ‘underutilized’ By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter
The developer of a proposed 18-story luxury apartment building in downtown Oak Park has a new ally for the project. The executive board of Downtown Oak Park (DTOP), a nonprofit association that promotes business development on and around Lake Street, has sent a letter to the Oak Park Plan Commission in support of the mixed-use building proposed by Albion Residential at the corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue. The proposal has made headlines over the last few months with many residents opposing the tower, in part, because of the potential impact to Austin Gardens, a public park adjacent to the two-story building that now stands at 1000 Lake St. “We are pleased to recommend the development for this location,” DTOP’s letter states. “This underutilized corner is appropriate for commercial reinvestment and we are encouraged with what the project sets forth.” The two-story building at that corner – built as a Lytton’s department store in 1956 – has been vacant for the last couple of years. That building would be razed to make room for the Albion project. The letter also states that Albion would bring a “signature building” to the prominent location and the residents of the roughly 300 new apartment units “will bring more vitality that will certainly increase retail sales and dining opportunities.” Max Austin-Williams, executive director of DTOP, See DTOP SUPPORT on page 13
Clerk to clerk
MAX HERMAN/Contributor
Incoming Village Clerk Vicki Scaman is sworn in by outgoing Village Clerk Teresa Powell during the Board of Trustees meeting, on Monday night, as Mayor Abu-Taleb and trustee Colette Lueck look on. Story on page 7.
Town hall puts racial equity front and center Oak Park, River Forest school districts update communities on progress By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
Members of the River Forest District 90, Oak Park District 97 and Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 boards of education, along with at least 100 audience members (a large number of whom were administrative officials from the three districts),
crammed into a room inside of Roosevelt Middle School, 7556 Oak Ave. in River Forest, on May 1. The event, promoted as a Tri-District Town Hall Forum on educational equity, gathered a range of perspectives on those districts’ decades-long struggle with the racial achievement gap, with some points of view more prominent than others.
While many in attendance lauded the town hall as a sign of progress, some people were less inspired and viewed the meeting as business as usual — yet another instance of district officials confronting the obstinate gap with more committees, consultants and meetings. See EQUITY TOWN HALL on page 15
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