Oak Park and River Forest High School will get detailed architectural plans for new physical education spaces, music classrooms, and a black box theater after the District 200 Board of Education voted 5-2 on Thursday, July 16, to authorize a $712,500 contract with FGM Architects.

The design documents advance Act 3, the third phase of the district's Imagine OPRF facilities plan. The project calls for demolition and reconstruction of the school's southwest wing at an estimated cost of $84.6 million. New PE and adaptive physical education spaces, updated locker rooms, choir and band instructional rooms, orchestra facilities, rehearsal areas, and a black box theater are all included in the schematic design the board reviewed on Wednesday, May 28.

Board members Jonathan Livingston, Fred Arkin, Tim Brandhorst, Graham Brisben, and Audrey Williams-Lee voted yes. Josh Gertz and Kathleen Odell voted no.

The split went deeper than the design contract itself. Livingston, despite voting yes, publicly opposed holding a bond referendum in spring 2027, the timeline district officials had targeted to fund Act 3's construction.

"I do not think Spring of 2027 is a good option," Livingston said at the July 16 meeting, according to the Wednesday Journal. "I would definitely prefer spring of 2028."

Livingston cited equity concerns, noting complaints from activists who argue the district has spent heavily on capital projects while shortchanging tutoring and academic support. Odell, who described herself as a strong supporter of the performing arts, voted no and said she felt "apprehensive" about the $712,500 investment given competing priorities around teaching and learning interventions.

Gertz, who cast the lone dissenting vote against Act 3's schematic design in June, has said the $84.6 million price tag is too expensive.

Brandhorst pushed back, arguing the referendum-timing question doesn't need to be settled until December 2026 and that design work shouldn't wait. Brisben called the framing of capital spending versus academic support a "false dichotomy," noting design documents are a one-time expense while academic support is ongoing. He added that challenges in providing more academic support are more a scheduling issue than a money issue.

What the project includes

Act 3 replaces facilities built in the 1960s. The performing arts program alone serves more than 535 students in curricular classes, according to district figures. The project would more than double the size of current rehearsal spaces, classrooms, and practice rooms, according to a June 30 Wednesday Journal piece written by OPRF performing arts students.

On the athletics side, the design includes replacement PE spaces for those demolished during construction, plus new adaptive PE facilities and locker room upgrades. These come on the heels of the $102 million Imagine OPRF Project 2, which added a swimming pool with spectator balcony, a multi-purpose dance gym, PE classrooms, and an athletics office. That project's ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Saturday, August 22.

What's next

The board expects to decide in December 2026 whether to place a bond referendum on the spring 2027 or spring 2028 ballot. No funding mechanism has been finalized; voter approval of a bond issue would be required.