Ridgeland Common Recreation Complex
Acquired in 1912, from Charles B. Scoville, the site was known as the “Old Cricket Grounds”. In 1914, the site was doubled with the acquisition of a former public service company storage yard to the west between Elmwood and Scoville. Ridgeland Common was named for the adjacent street and was designed by Jens Jensen, although little of Jensen’s design remains. In 1923, toboggan slides and a skating pond were built. In 1929, a memorial to the Spanish American War was erected at the behest of veterans and in 1936, comfort stations were built. The pool, building, and outdoor ice rink were constructed in 1962, with the pool soon used as a cooling tower for the ice rink making these two features necessarily operate in opposite seasons. A roof was built over the ice rink in 1965, and the District’s first lighted baseball fields were installed to the west of the rink which now has irrigation systems. Two basketball courts, a handball court, and sled hill were also built along the railroad tracks at this time. In 1982, the rink was fully enclosed and heated, the front entrance was moved to its current location, and the pool filters were replaced. In the 1980s, the east baseball field was named in recognition of Vince Dirks, long-term president of the Oak Park Youth Baseball Association at that time. The multi-purpose room was named after Fred L. Comstock, a Park Commissioner in the 1930s. Ridgeland Common is the Park District’s flagship facility.
In 2007, an Existing Conditions Study was completed, including a comprehensive physical evaluation of the site and analysis of all mechanical, structural, architectural, and civil/yard piping systems. The Study concluded that Ridgeland Common was physically and functionally obsolete, requiring extensive renovation within five years that would cost over $9 million, and no longer met the community’s modern space programming needs. In late 2007, several of the ice rink’s 242 cooling pipes failed and were repaired at a cost of nearly $70,000, delaying the opening of the rink. Also in 2007, the ice arena was renamed after Paul Hruby, long-time hockey coach and mentor to many Oak Park skaters.
Completed in 2008, a site master planning process for Ridgeland Common, established consensus on components that would be included in the redesigned Ridgeland Common Park, including a permanent dog park on the site and moving the building to the west side of the park to take advantage of the Village-owned parking garage located on OPRF High School property. The process also left the District with many unanswered questions due to the projected cost of a renovation. Out of the three site plans developed, the projected cost of the least expensive plan was $38 million, which was not obtainable without a voter-supported referendum. This plan called for a new facility similar in function to the current 6.06 acre park site and facility while taking into consideration today’s design standards and meeting all regulatory compliance requirements such as ADA and codes. It also corrected the currently undersized ice arena and the sled hill was to be removed.
In November 2011, Nagle Hartray Architecture was hired to design the renovation for the facility. Construction improvements started early 2013, and were completed by June 2014. This process included the demolition of the facility, excluding the roof and associated support structure. The facility opened in 2014, with a full sized ice rink, new administrative space, two multipurpose rooms, four locker rooms, and all new pool and rink mechanicals.
