District 200 is Asking Oak Park Residents to Say 'Yes' to $25 Million: 5 Things You Need to Know

Two referendums will make appearances on Oak Park's Nov. 8 ballot, and one of the issues up for a vote is whether School District 200 should be allowed to borrow $25 million to build a new swimming pool facility, parking garage and several new classroom and performance spaces. The proposal has been discussed at length for a few years now, but initial conversations about building more updated pools go back a decade and a half.

This is how you’ll see the referendum worded on election day:

Shall the Board of Education of Oak Park and River Forest Consolidated High School District Number 200, Cook County, Illinois, build and equip a swimming pool addition to replace the existing 88-year-old swimming pools at the Oak Park and River Forest High School Building; alter, repair and equip said School Building to improve the learning, performing arts and locker room spaces therein; improve the site thereof; build and equip a parking garage to replace the existing parking garage; and issue bonds of said School District in an amount not to exceed $25,000,000 for the purpose of paying costs thereof?

Some fancy vocab, right? It can be flustering to read and respond to something so complex in a short period of time. So, we’re breaking the lingo down for you.

Here’s what you need to know to answer this ballot question:

Oak Park and River Forest High School’s two pools are old. Really, really old.

There’s no doubt these swimming pools need replacement. They were both built in 1928, the Chicago Tribune reported, and have exceeded their useful lives. In March of 2013, the school board vocalized its interest in a pool that was at least eight lanes wide and 50 meters long — as long as an Olympic-sized pool. OPRF officials also said that although renovating the existing pools was initially an option, the project would still be expensive and result in the loss of at least one lane per pool.

This isn’t a $25 million plan — it’s a $44.5 million plan.

District 200 may be asking residents to vote in favor of the school borrowing $25 million, but in reality, plans for the aquatic center and parking garage tally up to a whopping $44.5 million. However, the school board approved a plan in Oct. of 2015 to provide OPRF with $20 million in district reserves, which is where the rest of the cash is coming from.

On that note, we’re not just talking about swimming pools.

The aquatic center itself is proposed to be a two-story, 49,800-square-foot building that will be built in the place of a parking garage that currently sits just south of campus. Since the old garage will be demolished, the school board has proposed building a new one, alongside the aquatic center, in its place.

But that’s not all. The plan evolved to include updates to locker rooms and then expanded to include building new classrooms and performing arts spaces for students, since now around one-third of the entire student body is enrolled in performing arts activities. The number has grown 20 percent throughout the past six years.

If you vote ‘yes,’ you'll be putting money toward this project.

William Blair & Company provided estimates for property tax increases that would come as a result of this plan making it through the election. Property taxes of an average Oak Park home valued at $362,000 would increase by $90 per year; taxes of a River Forest home valued at $530,700 would increase by $136 per year.

Construction is projected to be slow and steady.

If the residents of Oak Park and River Forest approve this referendum, construction could start anywhere between next spring and the winter of 2018. Once it’s begun, it’s estimated to take two years to complete.

Have any questions about this referendum? Let us know in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer them for you.

Keep an eye out for more election break-downs on Patch.

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