If anyone doubted the love La Grange Park residents have for their Public Library, those doubts were dispelled by the hundreds of people that turned out for the Library’s grand reopening on Aug. 3.
With a couple hundred lined up at 9:30 a.m. to officially reopen the Library, and several hundred more throughout a day that culminated with a Parking Lot Party in the early evening, officials estimated that at least 500 people attended.
“It’s overwhelming, I’m so excited that so many of the people that had probably already been to the Library have come to celebrate this day with us,” Library Board President Julie Geis said after she cut the ribbon for the reopening.
The Library had been closed for needed renovations from August 2023 to May 2024 and had been conducting restricted operations at the First Baptist Church of La Grange.
Gabe Oppenheim, Library executive director, was happy that the project was finally done.
“This is great,” he said. “This is the culmination of a long project that we’ve been working on for years.”
The renovation brought several new features to the Library, including a “Makerspace,” area where patrons could use their imaginations to create, an activity room, study rooms, and a Teen Lounge.
“It gives teens a place to be teens without inflicting their “teen-ness’ on adults,” Oppenheim said. “I think teens often time get a bad rap. Just to have that space for them separate from the Library, is great.”
Activities during the day included breakfast supplied by Jewel Food and tea from Wonderful Matcha, a scavenger hunt, crafts for grades K-3, a Poetry Workshop, and a donut taste test for grades 7-12 in the new Teen Lounge.
The evening’s events included a Parking Lot Party, balloon art, the magic of Gary Kantor, and music by Paulie and the Shakers.
Local brewery Hop District, 23 E. 31st Str., provided a special beer just for the occasion, “Shh … It’s a Pils,” offering two beers for free. Food came from Mattone Pizza, Beach Avenue BBQ, and Andy’s Frozen Custards.
Several local officials were on hand to celebrate, including Fire Chief Dean Maggos and Village Trustee Jaimie Zaura.
“I’m excited to be a part of it,” Zaura said. “I live in the Village and working on something that’s been in need for so many years, it’s very exciting.”
Indeed, the renovation had its origins in the 2014 discovery of the east wall of the Library building being compromised by water infiltration. A timeline of the project’s history can be found at the Library’s website, lplibrary.org. Included in it are the following:
-The project was originally prompted by the 2014 discovery that the East wall of the building had been structurally compromised by water infiltration.
-Studies were done and the cost was estimated to be $2.2 million in 2015.
-In 2017, the Library Board decided to hold off on the project to save money toward the cost.
-In 2021, the Library began a campaign to solicit public input on the project. It was also determined in 2021 that the renovation would be delayed until 2022 become of delays in material availability. That same year the Library issued $4 million in bonds toward the project.
The final cost of the renovation came to $5.6 million, covered by the $4 million in bonds, a $576,000 Public Library Construction Grant from the Illinois State Library, with the rest coming from the Library’s reserves.
Aspen Ankney, a professor of sports psychology in the graduate program at the University of Illinois Chicago, is a recent addition to La Grange Park, having moved here from her native Colorado two years ago.
Having three small children with her husband, Ankney noted the family aspect of the Library.
“We’re one block over and we used to come here all the time,” she said. “We really missed it being open. We have a four and one-half year old and we never made it over to the other building. It was too far.”
La Grange Park resident Brian Wallace is opening Homewood Brewing in Homewood, Illinois. He’s busy with getting the business off the ground, but his five-year-old means he’s a regular Library patron.
“I am a regular because of my five-year-old. We’re huge into libraries,” he said. “And I’m huge into free beer.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
