Oswego is looking at a series of architectural designs for a proposed outdoor pavilion for community events.
Trustees meeting as a committee of the whole recently were presented with five renderings and a site plan for the outdoor entertainment venue.
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Oswego accepted a land donation for a future amphitheater or entertainment pavilion in December. Oswego business owner Kevin Fialko donated the approximately three acres off of Orchard Road to the west of the former Park N Ride lot to the village.
The village closed on the property Dec. 5 and staff was seeking some consensus from trustees on how to proceed with the project.
“We’re about at the one-year point of working on this project. A lot has been done to bring us to this discussion,” Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said in his opening remarks.
Staff presented results of a community survey and stakeholder interviews as well as details of a site plan and acoustical report.
The village in February posted an online community survey about the project after approving a $20,300 contract with Oswego-based Schoppe Design Inc. to get some preliminary designs for the facility. Di Santo said 495 respondents participated in the survey.
According to the survey, 60% of the respondents had been to an outdoor venue in a neighboring suburb in the past year, 75% were likely to attend a festival in a given year, while 56% expressed they would like to see more musical performances in the area, while 41% were satisfied with the village’s current event offerings.
Staff and Schoppe Design conducted interviews with representatives of Oswego-based School District 308, Oswegoland Park District, a local concert promoter, a local dance group and a performing arts group to discuss their potential use of the facility and their thoughts on what amenities would be needed at the site for performances.
The village also hired Threshold Acoustics to do an acoustical study and Williams Architects to do architectural and engineering design work on the project.
The acoustical work considered two different orientations for the stage.
“We were pleased to find that both did not generate noise levels in existing neighborhoods that exceeded our code at night or day,” Di Santo said.
However, a northeast orientation is preferred because it would benefit from existing sound barriers and maximize seating, he said.
“Given the significant amount of additional seating, it was decided a northeast orientation would be the best siting for the stage,” Mike Schoppe of Schoppe Design said.
Another side benefit is the view the general public would have of the facility from the elevated bridge.
“It’s a terrific view, especially at night, with the band playing and lights. It will create a festive image,” Schoppe said.
Trustee Pam Parr was interested in the potential maximum seating at the facility.
“If we make the assumption to find off-site parking, we could put 5,000 people on the site for a performance,” Schoppe said.
Other amenities that could be included are an area for food trucks, a playground and walking paths.
Some of those features could be phased in. The $750,000 budget for the project includes design and construction for a covered stage and park area. All other design elements in the master plan would come during later stages when additional funds are available, Di Santo said in his report.
The village has applied for an Illinois Fast-Track grant. If approved, the funds would make it possible for the village to advance some of the later-phase design elements such as restrooms and storage behind the stage.
“It’s a very competitive grant that actually closed to accepting any new applications. We got ours in thanks to our Public Works Director Jennifer Hughes who did an enormous amount of work,” Di Santo said.
The village is planning to have a public open house on the project this summer at Village Hall. The construction schedule potentially would be from Oct. 1 through May 2021.
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Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.