Of course it had to come to this. The simplest, most logical plan for building a new swimming pool at OPRF has finally surfaced, one could argue resurfaced, and it is summarily rejected by a shell-shocked school board.
Happened last week when Steve Gevinson, a board member at Oak Park and River Forest High School and for decades an English teacher and division chair at the school, came forth, oddly late, with an incomplete proposal to build a new pool by basically eliminating the current tennis courts.
Those handful of you who have been paying attention to this debacle in governance, simple measuring, public relations and a citizenry ready to pay attention just when it damned well decided to pay attention, may recall that this is, by one definition, where we started. New pool. Fewer tennis courts. Done.
In fact, some long-forgotten version of this school board — what do you mean this was only three years ago? I’m sure it was eight — was ready to vote to approve a plan very similar to this version when some hot shot actually got out a ruler and proved the well-paid architects had mis-measured and screwed with the baseball fields on the way to taking out the tennis courts.
Calmer and/or more creative heads should have found a solution to this miniscule problem. Perhaps an Ontario Curve might have eaten up a little parkway space and allowed left field to remain intact. If it is good enough for Madison Street, it mighta worked at OPRF.
Instead, that simple plan was ditched and we’ve entered the desert-wandering portion of our feature. A pool on Madison Street. Tennis courts at village hall. Or maybe, says Gevinson, at Keystone Park in River Forest. Baseball at Triton. Knock down the only OPRF parking garage. Close Scoville south of Lake. Save the old pools. No pool for you, OPRF. Nothing doing without a referendum!
A few weeks ago, this very newspaper opined that the school board had to reject any late entries to its pool placement sweepstakes. Seeking to take back control, or at least influence, over its process, the school had already introduced four options. It had begun a vigorous public input process with many meetings and presentations, and even snacks.
The Journal was right. Sort of. Maybe. You can’t consider Gevinson’s just a few feet out of left field proposal at this point. As Mr. Gevinson well knows, late and incomplete will get one a low mark. Too bad it is the obvious and right plan.
Critics who complain that Gevinson’s plan would eliminate greenspace on the campus should be beaten with soft sticks. Look around, folks, the high school is landlocked. Something has to give. OK, it ought to be tennis. As I’ve noted repeatedly over many years, It’s just tennis. There are tennis courts everywhere in Oak Park. Scoville Park and Taylor Park are in walking distance. No one plays on those courts anyhow. OK, Fenwick, so build a few more at Keystone. Rent a bus from the township and drive the kids over. Use a second bus for the tennis fans. Oh, there are no tennis fans, that’s right. We’re already saving taxpayer money on buses.
Board members who complain that Gevinson’s plan had to be rejected because of its call for intergovernmental cooperation with the River Forest Park District and that such an effort could add six months to this century-long process should be beaten with pig-gut tennis rackets. The locals love collaboration. It is part of every strategic plan. If OPRF tosses in construction of an added platform tennis court at Keystone, we could have a deal in two weeks. River Forest is oddly gaga for platform tennis.
Sooner or later this decision on a new pool will be made. Then, perhaps, we could bring all the same intensity to a discussion of, and an investment in, why so many black students are underperforming in our high school.