A Forgotten Idea: Oak Park's "Motor Row"

Oak Park has a reputation for being keenly aware of its architectural heritage. Much of this image comes from the people that visit Oak Park to gawk at buildings designed by America’s famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. A significant number of people also make the journey to visit the former stomping grounds of author, Ernest Hemingway. Like other suburban communities around Chicago that developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we also have architect-designed homes and commercial structures of a remarkable quality and quantity. What makes Oak Park somewhat unique is that it has gone to great lengths to protect many of these structures, creating historic districts that cover almost half the village.

Even with all of this interest in architectural heritage, preservation isn't always at the forefront of the community’s mind when community vision or a new building project are being considered. It is all too common for homeowners to make significant changes to protected homes without regard to codified restoration standards. Sometimes this happens because of people’s ignorance about their property’s inclusion in a historic district and other times it is done out of blatant disregard for the preservation ordinance. Given how protected structures are sometimes treated, the poor treatment of non-protected structure isn't surprising. 

In a currently debated project, the Village (by way of the District 97 School Board) is proposing a new District Headquarters. The District 97 Administration building planning has been in the works for years. Though people seem lukewarm to the idea of a structure for the district offices, it is hard to argue that a new structure isn’t needed. After years of neglect, through deferred maintenance, the current building is in poor shape. Walking by this small yet fortress-like structure at 970 Madison Street, it is easy to believe that the structure has been in poor shape since the day it was built.

The current District 97 Headquarters on Madison Street.  

The new structure is proposed on a site at 260 Madison Street, roughly one mile east of the current headquarters. The new site currently houses a storage yard and a modest yet nicely detailed former automobile dealership garage. The property was provided for the new headquarters in a swap between the Village and District 97. 260 Madison is one of the "significant" structures in Village-commissioned report by Wiss Janney to assess the historic structures on the street. It was likely listed as significant because of it’s former automobile-associated use and because it was designed by a significant Oak Park architect, E. E. Roberts.

The vacant lot and former car dealership at 260 Madison Street. The future site of the new District 97 Administration Building.

A street-view of the future site of the new District 97 Administration Building, currently the Hill Motor Sales Garage building.

Madison Street is not a pretty street and if you were to tell locals that they should pay attention to the architecture there, I bet you would get a hearty laugh. It is a wide highway-like street that once housed many automobile-oriented uses. To say that it suffers from poor urban design and planning is an understatement. Over the years it became home to many of the official Village structures. Some are grand, like the Village Hall and some not so sightly, like the various service and storage facilities for the village and school board. 

There are plans in place for a future sprucing up of the street but the political will has not propelled forward. In addition to these plans, many studies have been done to identify and plan the development of real estate and historic resources along Madison Street. The notion of any historic resources along this street might seem outlandish. The collection of structures seems unremarkable and sporadic at best but a closer look at things starts to reveal an exciting vision for the street. One architectural highlight on the street is, no doubt, Eban and E. E. Roberts’ Foley-Rice Cadillac (FormerlyPackard) dealership built in 1923 but it has sat vacant since 2007.

The long-vacant Foley-Rice Cadillac Building on Madison Street.

Terra cotta detailing on the Foley-Rice building. 

In 2005, the Village hired Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. to conduct an architectural survey of properties along Madison Street. The report outlines potential historic resources along the thoroughfare. It is a fascinating study that took a new look at the buildings there. The contemporary and historic photos in it, along with the historic interpretation of the place, allow you to see the structures on this street in a very different light.

The study suggests that the Village could capitalize on the buildings that had an automobile-related use, creating a historic designation of a “Motor Row” by protecting those structures. Historic designation might also bring tax incentive for future rehabilitation. To that aim, the study identifies 18 “Significant” structures and 3 possible “National Register” structures. Coupled with a comprehensive streetscape plan, this thoughtful “packaging” of the street as a historic corridor seems like a logical redevelopment tool for the Village to use to re-design the street, draw in new businesses, and create a more aesthetically pleasing thoroughfare. The exciting aspect of this is that it draws on something that the village is accustomed to thinking about, its architectural heritage. It is also making a place out of architecture and design elements that are uniquely Oak Park.   

The Grove Apartments. Formerly the Comcast Building and Albert Kahn's Cadillac-LaSalle Dealership.

The Collins Building and the new Walgreens.

The idea of using the historic fabric as a starting point for re-imagining the street and becoming the basis for economic development seemed to be gaining some ground. This past year, Oak Park’s Village Hall, completed in 1975 and designed by Chicago architect Harry Weese, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recent developments like the Walgreen’s renovation of the 1922 Collins Building and the award-winning restoration and addition to renowned architect Albert Kahn’s Cadillac-LaSalle Dealership, directly across the street, are all signs that a new mindset was taking hold.

Given the amount of money this town makes on tourism, this really isn't a surprise. We are a village that already attracts people because of its architecture so why not give those architecture aficionados more to see and a reason to extend their stay (attracting tourism dollars)? Many people claim they move to Oak Park because of the historic architecture so why not begin looking at unique commercial areas the same way and demand unique historic places to eat, shop and work in?  We understand the power of unique places to draw people in so this is our key to success. Or is it? 

Stone detailing on the Hill Motor Sales Garage Building, E. E. Roberts, architect.

In this latest move by the Village, the potentially historic structures are being presented as throw-away buildings that would be easily demolished to create a tabula rasa for developers. In swapping the site with the District 97 School Board, the Village is shutting a door on the possibility of celebrating the street's automotive heritage. In slating the Hill Motor Sales Garage for demolition, Oak Park seems to have lost the notion of what a unique place this could be.

Detail of garage door and cartouche on Hill Motor Sales Garage Building.

Street view of the Hill Motor Sales Garage Building, future site of the District 97 Administration Building.

Some would probably argue that this is a relatively insignificant structure and its loss is an acceptable casualty. I see it a little differently. It seems that in this latest move, the village is making a strong statement that it has no interest in historic preservation, nor does it show any understanding about the capacity for historic preservation to be a vital economic development tool.