For more than 20 years, we’ve been trying to decipher the motivations of the Kleronomos family when it comes to the mini-fiefdom it holds in commercial properties on Harrison Street. There is, basically, a block’s worth of storefronts on Harrison from Lombard to Harvey that have been in the family’s name for decades – since the Great Depression is the common trope.
That was fine and good through the ’60s, maybe the early ’70s, until the assemblage of small neighborhood shops –
bakeries and meat markets – closed and were never replaced.
There is a large commercial storefront in the heart of the Oak Park Arts District, clogging the arteries of the arts district, that has been empty since the ’80s.
Now the village is taking the Kleronomos family to circuit court aiming to get the roof at 213-215 Harrison fixed or to get the entire decrepit building razed. The village’s suit says the roof trusses are weakened and could lead to a collapse, that the roof leaks, that water is accumulating in the building.
We vote for demolition and it can’t happen too quick.
Village hall has long been too timid in taking on this chronic sore on Harrison. We understand that the Kleronomos family are local folks. Nice people, too. We’ve seen that on occasion, and totally by surprise, they actually pull off a decent upgrade on the street. But we’ve witnessed far too much neglect. We’ve listened to one too many pie-in-the-sky redevelopment proposals from the family when all they have really needed to do was either fix their several buildings, and secure more than a tenant per decade, or simply sell the properties.
Since they haven’t, since they seem strangely incapable of making a logical decision for the good of Harrison Street, the village ought to pile on with every available tool.
Take the ‘A’ train. But not now
What if a half-million strap-hangers a day saw “Downtown Oak Park” rolling by in the front window of CTA trains crisscrossing the Loop? Has to be good for Oak Park’s image. Might draw a few shoppers our way.
That’s the working theory of the village as it discusses the possibility of a Harlem/Lake name change with the CTA. Unknown at this point is how costly such a change in Green Line signage, maps, brochures and Web sites might be and who’d pay the freight.
Oak Park officials note that the terminus of the Blue Line was changed from Desplaines to Forest Park a number of years ago. We’d add that growing up and just hearing about the Evanston Express gave that north suburban refuge a jaunty aspect.
However, at a moment of economic worry, at a moment when some villagers are frustrated over basic services like salting streets, CTA signage seems like a subject to revisit in headier times.
Be our valentine
We’re back again with another special section, this one Valentine’s themed, to prove irrefutably that shopping in Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield is fun, simple, and rapidly becoming the thing to do.
Sure you’re broke. We’re all broke. It’s the new rich. But with any luck, you’re still in love and will be in need of a spectacular gift that speaks of affection, loyalty and lust. We’ve filled 16 colorful pages with gifts that proclaim: “I didn’t do my Valentine’s shopping at Walgreens!” You’re welcome.