It is gratifying to hear that the leaders of Oak Park’s park district and high school have been actively discussing ways the full community might share use of the about-to-be-constructed new indoor pool facility at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
With demolition about to start of the indoor athletic facilities on the Scoville Avenue campus, there will be a new and expansive pool facility at OPRF by 2026.
Simultaneously, the Park District of Oak Park is working on its five-year capital plan and has conducted polling of local residents about their willingness to take a hike in their property taxes to pay for an indoor pool. To our surprise, and to the park district’s surprise, not quite 70% of those responding to the scientifically valid poll strongly or casually support that idea.
We’ve lobbied on this page for the two entities to seriously discuss how a pool collaboration can work. We are heartened to hear both Jan Arnold and Greg Johnson, parks and school respectively, say they have already talked and will continue to talk.
Now let’s up the “ask.” We want more people at the table for these discussions. The pros and cons need to be discussed transparently. And it needs to be accepted that a shared pool facility will require each entity to get less access than ideal. In other words, some compromise for the shared good.
