July 08--Orland Park trustees put their stamp of approval on plans for the new University of Chicago Medicine building slated to be built in the village's downtown, but not before making a few aesthetic tweaks.
Though the village and University of Chicago Medicine still are working on a lease agreement for the property, trustees unanimously voted at Monday night's village board meeting to approve the site plan.
The roughly 110,000-square-foot, four-story building, referred to in village documents as the University of Chicago Medicine -- Center for Advanced Care, will sit at the northwest corner of LaGrange Road and 143rd Street. Plans won endorsement of the village's Plan Commission and a village board committee last month.
At that committee meeting, Marco Capicchioni, University of Chicago Medicine's vice president of facilities planning, design and construction, said it would be too tough to make an aesthetic change requested by Trustee Kathleen Fenton that late in the planning process.
But plans approved Monday included a few adjustments to the tower at the building's southeast corner, including raising its height from 70 to 78 feet, using buff-colored bricks matching those used on a different part of the building, and topping the tower with metal screening that can be lit at night.
Trustee Jim Dodge, whom Fenton credited for pushing the changes through, said the extra height and lighting will make the tower stand out, while the white bricks in initial plans were "too stark."
While trustees don't always get so involved in the design process, "when it's something this big and important and iconic, we do," Dodge said.
Mayor Dan McLaughlin acknowledged the plans had "been through the wringer a few times."
"I want to applaud the village and the University of Chicago for putting in the extra work to get a premier building," he said.
lzumbach@tribpub.com
