A historic Oak Park building could be demolished during a redevelopment project, but two residents of the village would rather see the structure preserved as a local landmark.
Frank Heitzman, a local architect and village resident, and Frank Lipo, who is the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest's director, want to save the Foley-Rice building on Madison Street, and requested landmark status from Oak Park's historic preservation commission. The commission decided to go ahead with a preliminary investigation into whether or not the building would qualify for the designation. The vote was unanimous. Projects like this give backers the opportunity to use Logo Design to create a specific symbol for the building.
The building first opened as a Packard dealership in the 1920s, and people would come to Oak Park from Chicago to buy cars, a practice that continued for forty years, from the 1920s to the 1960s. The Foley-Rice building was one of a number of car dealers on the street, many of them designed by E.E. Roberts. This building is one of the last still standing, and Heitzman and Lipo believe it has the integrity and history to earn it historic status. The two cited the building's large windows, brick facade,
the gargoyle-like figures in the walls, and its Spanish Colonial Revival styling as sufficient reasons for protecting it.
There will be a public hearing, likely on February 14, to discuss the building.
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