Oak Park, Illinois Village Departments -- Historic Preservation

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Residents invited to get involved in process
Effort underway to create strategic preservation plan

The Historic Preservation Commission is leading a community wide effort to create a 10-year Strategic Historic Preservation Plan to help guide efforts to identify and protect important historic resources throughout the Village of Oak Park. The new plan will replace the 1994 long-range plan. The first phase will develop a comprehensive base line of information for future analysis and decision-making. The second phase will explore ideas and concepts for specific historic preservation planning strategies and initiatives. And the third, plan-making phase will create a formal plan document of strategies to achieve both short and long-term goals. A series of public meetings is scheduled.

Meeting Schedule

Sept. 8, 2009 – Steering Committee meeting I (7 p.m., Village Hall, 123 Madison St.)
Oct. 21, 2009 – Community Workshop I (7 p.m., Brooks Middle School, 325 S. Kenilworth Ave.)
Dec. 16, 2009 – Steering Committee meeting II (7 p.m., Pleasant Home, 217 Home Ave.)
Jan. 12, 2010 – Community Workshop II (7 p.m., Hatch School, 1000 N. Ridgeland Ave.)
Feb. 17, 2010 – Steering Committee meeting III (7 p.m., Oak Park Conservatory, 615 Garfield St.)
March 17, 2010 – Community Workshop III (7 p.m., Beye School, 230 N. cuyler Ave.)

What is a Historic Preservation Plan?

An effective historic preservation plan should assist the Village of Oak Park in the following ways:

Enhance efforts to identify and protect important historic resources over the next 10 years
Create new methods for encouraging rehabilitation and adaptive use of important historic buildings and structures
Promote a strong historic preservation ethic among a cross-section of community stakeholders and residents

With several neighborhood and commercial district plans already completed, and a comprehensive plan update planned for the near future, it is ever more critical that Oak Park’s historic preservation program be evaluated, strengthened and integrated within the community’s current and on-going planning activities.

Project History

A preservation plan committee was formed in 1993 to explore future, long-term historic preservation issues in the community. The plan was meant to outline the Historic Preservation Commission’s preservation efforts in the historic districts and in Oak Park as a whole. A Long Range Historic Preservation Plan was approved in September 1994.

Project Summary

The planning process for the Strategic Historic Preservation Plan involves three distinct phases. The first phase is intended to establish a community planning process that involves a wide range of private sector stakeholders and public agency representatives; define challenges and opportunities in achieving historic preservation planning goals; and develop a comprehensive base line of information for future analysis and decision-making.

The second visioning phase will explore ideas and concepts for specific historic preservation planning strategies and initiatives through research, creative thinking and community engagement, with the overall goals of establishing a shared, compelling vision.

The final plan-making phase will bring together in a formal plan document preferred historic preservation planning strategies based on the community’s vision and consensus for short and long-term goals.

Steering Committee/Project Team

Diane Williams of Business Districts, Inc. will work with a steering committee to facilitate the planning process. The committee is made up of representatives from various Village commissions, the Park District, commercial and residential property owners, and local not-for-profit organizations.

For more information on the plan or the process, call 708.358.5417 or e-mail the Historic Preservation Division .

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This project has been financed (in part) with federal funds from the Department of the Interior, administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency; nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior nor the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. This project receives Federal financial assistance for identification and protection of historic properties under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, the U. S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or disability or age in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: