Split council favors LED lighting for new senior center, rec center sign

One of the most utilized and most visited facilities in Highland Park is set to gain a new addition on which some city officials aren’t quite ready to sign off.

A split Highland Park City Council (4-3) approved an agreement on Monday, Dec. 16, with The Holland Design Group for the design and installation of a monument sign at the shared city and park district facility at 1201-1207 Park Avenue West.

The complex is home to the park district’s recreation center, the city’s senior center and the Moraine Event Center, which is a city-owned event space.

In city documents detailing the agreement, officials say “the digital sign will assist (the park district) and the City in marketing programs and events with eye-catching graphics, and offer a more contemporary visual appeal than a text-only signboard.”

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering joined Councilmembers Annette Lidawer, Andrés Tapia and Barisa Bruckman in support while Kim Stone, Yumi Ross and Anthony Blumberg voted against the resolution.

City officials, working in partnership with the Park District of Highland Park, began exploring potential vendors for the project this fall with the hope of finding a contractor to design, build, coordinate and install the sign on the popular site.

According to city documents, proposals for the project were reviewed by a joint committee of city and park district staff. Park Board commissioners recently approved the agreement.

The resolution was originally slated to be included on the council’s omnibus agenda for the Dec. 16 meeting but it was pulled for further discussion.

Councilmembers, while noting they did not want to “design from the dais,” specifically reviewed three policy points related to the agreement: whether the sign should include identifications of business uses, if it should feature an LED display and if a flagstone base was an appropriate element.

City staff proposed those topics to the council as a way to help guide future discussions with The Holland Design Group. The council’s preference on those matters could have led to a lesser overall cost for the project.

The total cost for the project with the inclusion of energy-efficient LED lighting and the flagstone base is approximately $129,000, city officials said during the meeting while noting that the expenditure will be split between the city and the park district.

Officials said the removal of the LED lighting, a project element that split the council, would decrease the overall cost by around $28,000.

Councilmembers Blumberg and Stone, who both ultimately opposed the agreement, both were not behind the LED lighting. Blumberg said he was “deeply opposed” to the feature in the “middle of what is currently very dark and across from Brooke Estates and turning this into the first step toward making this a Las Vegas strip.”

He also expressed hesitations about the lighting “being a significant distractant on a major thoroughfare.”

Lidawer shared different sentiments, saying she did not want the city “to go backwards,” adding that she believes her preferences about the sign are forward looking.

Ross urged an overall more cautious approach to considering the agreement, noting that it’s something the city will have “for decades” and “should do right.”

“Park Avenue is a gateway and this sign is a major sign and a major part of the image you’re getting when you come into Highland Park,” Ross said.

After the split vote, Rotering offered an attempt to quell concerns.

“We will make sure to have absolute input from those that are concerned about the design elements and the details, that’s my promise to you,” she said.

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