River Forest residents expressed concerns about parking, costs and the need for the proposed $1.1 million overhaul of the grounds at Roosevelt School during a public forum Oct. 28.
Several residents voiced full support for the project during a public hearing hosted by the Board of Education in the school’s auditorium. About 30 of the more than 100 people at the hearing spoke to the board.
District 90 officials outlined the four-part proposal and two-year process they said they have undergone to settle on changes to landscaping, lighting, access, stormwater drainages and the playground at Roosevelt, 7560 Oak Ave., home to an estimated 669 fifth- through eighth-grade students and 110 employees.
The board plans to use the comments made during the hearing to consider new ideas about the project, not to weigh the number of residents who support it versus the number who oppose it, Board President Patrick Meyer said.
“Unlike any school issue in recent memory, this issue has galvanized and polarized the community, based on the phone calls and emails we’ve received,” Meyer said. “It has generated tremendous interest from the community, and frankly we were caught off guard by it.”
In March, the board chose to “put the brakes on” the decision process in order to invite additional public opinion, Meyer said. In order to get a better cross-representation from the community, the board also chose to add additional members to a sub-committee that will “fine-tune” the proposal, he said.
The largest portion — $368,434 — of the cost of the project will go toward overhauling the north parking lot, including improving stormwater drainage, creating a student congregation area for seventh- and eighth-grade students each morning and creating safer pedestrian access around the parking lot, said Anthony Cozzi, director of finance and facilities.
Stormwater mitigation will include adding paved parking for bicycles and eliminating a problem area often referred to as the “mud pit,” Cozzi said.
The remaining funds will be divided among improvements to the Lathrop Avenue parking lot ($250,162), the east play lot ($224,236) and the Oak Avenue entrance ($188,230), he said.
The project will reduce the number of parking spots around the school from 96 to 66, but add 30 temporary spaces for visitors to the school and the neighboring River Forest Library between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on school days, Cozzi said. It will also create five short-term visitor spots in the north or Lathrop lots, he said.
Resident Al Popowitz urged the board to consider the needs of senior citizens before eliminating so many parking spaces. The congregation area for seventh- and eighth-graders could be moved to the library during early morning hours, Popowitz said.
Sarah Lempia praised the board for proposing improvements that are badly needed to address poor planning executed many years ago, including building a library immediately adjacent to a school.
“You have a lot of clean-up to do of shortsighted planning over the years,” Lempia said. “Thank you for the idea of providing a library book drop-off as part of this project. I would love if you could add a mailbox, too.”
The project price tag of $1.1 million is a “staggering sum, especially given that it focuses on aesthetics,” said Kristen Coe.
“Please remember that just because you have the money doesn’t mean that you need to spend the money,” Coe said.
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