Field Playground

Field Playground of Oak Park, Illinois.

Background

In 2007 reconfiguring of two ballfields led to large-scale devastation of the natural beauty of Field Playground. The executive director of the Oak Park Park District, the head of buildings and grounds, the landscape architect, the contractor, and the subcontractor are responsible for multiple design flaws, lack of oversight, and substantial costs of remediation. Yet no one was held accountable. No one was fired, demoted, or fined, and no lawsuits were filed. The only entity held accountable were the taxpayers, who had to pay what we estimate to be more than $1 million. The remediation continues.

Cost of Remediation of Design Flaws and Lack of Oversight

The costs are estimates only and are based on recollection.

Woodbine Avenue entrance ADA-violation

We discovered that a wheelchair could not pass through the entrance and reported it to the Oak Leaves. Ms. Grayson wrote about it and the executive director said, “We take ADA violations very seriously.” He noted it would take “an afternoon” to remediate. It took a three-man crew an entire week to remove the fencing and concrete and to replace it. Cost: $10K, $20K, $30K?

South flooding; berm/swale; sidewalk squares

The landscape architect’s design placed a berm west of the south ballfield. With real soil, the planted trees thrived. Unfortunately, the crushed rock ball field, double sidewalks, and berm left no area for drainage and flooding occurred in the area, into the alley and under the concrete. Between twenty and forty sidewalk squares, destroyed by freezer/thaw, were replaced, the berm trees were destroyed, the berm soil was removed, soil was excavated, and a swale was created. Cost: $20K, $30K? Twenty or so sidewalk squares south of the fieldhouse are degraded, the result of poor quality of materials. Cost to replace $5K?

Decorative iron grating

The landscape architect’s design included decorative iron gratings from near Division to around the fieldhouse. They were removed. Cost $15K, $20K?

Crabapple trees

About twelve crabapple trees were planted east of the south sidewalk north of the south ballfield. Planted in clay rather than the contracted topsoil, at least have had died are were cut down. The six that have not died are stunted in growth. Compare the two healthy trees planted on either side of the driveway entrance from the alley. They were planted in the existing soil.

Bocce ball court

The landscape architect must have thought that an Italian-inspired bocce ball court should be included. After a few weeks, the audible clacking of colliding bocce balls ceased and the court became no more than a concentration of McDonalds packaging, shards of birthday balloons, fruit juice packages, used diapers, and the such.