Oak Park and River Forest High School is getting a $3.5 million state grant to help pay for the geothermal heating and cooling system that will regulate temperatures in the new portion of the school that is being built to replace the school’s southeast corner that has been demolished.
The grant has been in the works since the spending authority was approved last year but the money, which comes from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Opportunity’s Build Illinois capital projects fund, was formally released by the Illinois General Assembly last month as part of the budget that was approved by state lawmakers at the end of May.
“I was happy to support the high school’s request that the state play a part in what is a sweeping project to build a modern, environmentally and fiscally responsible school facility that will serve students and the community for years to come,” State Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said in a prepared statement.
The construction project is known as Project 2. OPRF can use the money for any part of Project 2 but Heidi Ruehle, the executive director of the Imagine Foundation, said that the intent is to use the money to pay a portion of the approximately $12.5 million cost of geothermal work. The geothermal work is budgeted separately from Project 2, which is expected to cost nearly $102 million.
“It’s not restricted to geothermal but it’s expected to be used for green energy,” Ruehle said. “Of course geothermal falls underneath that umbrella but there are other aspects to this project that do as well.”
The new construction will include a new swimming pool, a new third floor gym, and a host of other additions and improvements.
The Imagine Foundation, a nonprofit fundraising foundation dedicated to raising money to support Project 2, did most of the leg work in securing the grant but brought in OPRF officials to make the formal application.
Ruehle said that the Imagine Foundation, then led by former executive director Lynn Kamenitsa, first reached out to Harmon’s office in 2023 after the funding for Project 2 was approved. Harmon’s office helped with the grant application process and connected the Imagine Foundation and OPRF staff with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
“We just needed to understand how this could come together and they just kind of walked us through that process,” Ruehle said.
The Imagine Foundation has committed to raising at least $12.5 million, and hopes to raise $15 million, to help pay for Project 2. It has already given $2 million to OPRF and plans to hand over another $1 million check to OPRF at the June 12 school board meeting. Ruehle said that since the Imagine Foundation did much of the work of securing the $3.5 million state grant it will count the $3.5 million in state money towards what the foundation has committed to raise.
“Because Imagine took the lead on this and it was part of our fundraising efforts,” Ruehle said.
While focusing on private donations Ruehle said that the Imagine Foundation will continue to seek out government and other grants.
“We don’t have any other major grants on the horizon but we’re certainly hoping that they’re out there,” Ruehle said.
Although the $3.5 million state grant was first authorized last year the Imagine Foundation did not want to publicize the grant until it was certain that the grant would be released as part of this year’s budget bill.
“We wanted to make sure the money was in hand or guaranteed before any information was put out there which we agreed on with D200 and Harmon’s office,” Ruehle said.
OPRF District 200 Superintendent Greg Johnson thanked Harmon and the Imagine Foundation for their help in securing the state grant.
“We are grateful to the OPRFHS Imagine Foundation and our local elected representatives for their assistance in securing state funding to help D200 build better educational facilities for our students,” Johnson said in a news release issued by OPRF. “By supporting our investment in geothermal for Project 2, this grant helps us take a big step toward meeting our District’s very ambitious sustainability goals, which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100% of 2012 levels by 2050.”
While Harmon helped get $3.5 million for OPRF, that amount pales in comparison to the $40 million state grant that is going to Proviso West High School, the alma mater of Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, to build a sports complex. Before being elected as a state representative in 2012 Welch had served as president of Proviso Township High School District 209 Board of Education.
“The state budget funds projects in communities across the state,” said an emailed statement from Jon Maxson, a spokesman for Welch, when asked to comment about the grant for Proviso West. “Since 2021, Speaker Welch has helped fund a $30 million bridge in Kane and McHenry county; $33 million for a sports complex in Tinley Park; $50 million for Woodlawn; $30 million for Fermilab in Batavia; and $50 million for Northwestern—all outside of his district. These are economic development projects that have invested in red and blue communities alike. One project in this year’s budget helps a school in his district fund a new sports complex that will serve the entire community and surrounding area by supporting student athletics, community events, and opportunities for local businesses.”
Bob Skolnik is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.