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Commission continues review of School District 181 administrative office exterior and site plan in Hinsdale
Summary
The Plant Commission continued a public-meeting review of exterior changes and site plan for School District 181’s proposed administrative offices at 11303 Stockton Avenue, asking the district and architect to return with revised design options addressing style, materials, landscaping and lighting.
The Hinsdale Plant Commission continued the public-meeting review of exterior appearance and site plan changes for School District 181’s proposed administrative offices at 11303 Stockton Avenue (case A-49-2024). Commissioners and staff asked the district and its architect to return with additional design alternatives addressing building style, materials and landscape improvements.
Mike Dugan, Director of Facilities for School District 181, and Dave Patton of Healy Bender Patton and Bean Architects said the district purchased the existing building to consolidate administrative operations inside district boundaries. Patton described proposed exterior updates including painted brick (gray), replacement windows with black frames, new, lower parking-lot lighting with 15-foot maximum poles and other changes to present a more cohesive appearance along the Ogden Avenue corridor.
Commissioners praised the opportunity to bring the district offices into the community but raised repeated concerns about the proposed aesthetic. Multiple commissioners said the current design mixes colonial and contemporary elements and asked the applicant to present either a refined traditional (colonial) option or a fully contemporary alternative. "I think it's either colonial or it should go totally contemporary and modern," said a commissioner. Commissioners recommended the applicant consider alternatives to PVC trim and to explore adding landscape islands or other planting in large paved areas of the parking lot.
Questions also focused on exterior lighting and neighbors’ exposure. The applicant said the new lights would conform to the village’s cut-off and property-line standards and offered to program dimming after business hours to reduce impacts on adjacent properties. The project team said existing site constraints limit options for significant reconfiguration of drive aisles and angle parking, though modest additional landscaping behind the trash enclosure and around meter banks is possible.
After the discussion, Commissioner Willoughby moved and a second was made to continue the public meeting to the commission’s May 14 meeting to allow the district and architect to prepare revised options and additional material samples. The motion passed on a roll-call vote: Commissioner Kirillenberger, Commissioner Cernovich, Commissioner Willoughby, Commissioner Fioscone, and Chairman Jeremy Cashman all voted aye.
The commission recorded that permit items unrelated to appearance and site-plan review may proceed administratively while the applicant refines exterior design materials for the visible Ogden Avenue elevation.
