What Naperville students want to see at East Ogden strip mall
Three Naperville students who aren't even taking the architecture class challenged to redesign Iroquois Center on East Ogden Avenue joined with one student who is enrolled in the class and won the competition.
Naperville North High School seniors Mike Findlay, Adam Giazzon and Caleb Schemmel took on an extra assignment from their friend Collin Osmun's architecture class that gave them freedom to re-imagine a decades-old strip mall with 14 acres of land and too many vacant storefronts.
In the challenge, about 25 students formed teams to design a destination with shopping, dining, entertainment and living spaces targeted toward older residents, following all of the city's zoning, parking, landscaping and stormwater requirements. Past that, it was up to them.
The winning team drew up a development anchored by 60 units of housing for people 50 and older and a series of restaurants and shops around a centerpiece pond.
"We wanted to have a central water feature to bring everyone in," Findlay said.
The students drew inspiration and ideas from nearby redevelopment - such as a newer Panda Express restaurant just west of Iroquois Center and the businesses at Naper Boulevard and Ogden to the east. Working together, the students, who intend to pursue mechanical and materials engineering, civil engineering, automotives and architecture in college, used each other's strengths to integrate those ideas.
The Panda Express, for example, shuns straight lines for a more graceful look.
"Most of our architecture is based on curves," Findlay said.
"They're very visible driving down Ogden," Osmun said.
Students impressed judges with the thoroughness of their research, which included displays of materials for energy-efficient roofing, patios and windows.
"It's obvious we put a lot of effort in," Schemmel said.
The students' project began in January with a tour of the site led by city officials and the Naperville Development Partnership.
Mayor Steve Chirico and President and CEO Christine Jeffries said they were thrilled to hear student ideas for what could revitalize the shopping center.
"The students did an outstanding job of presenting and coming up with a concept," Chirico said. "It's impressive to see their unbridled enthusiasm unleashed."
The goal of redeveloping Iroquois Center is part of a larger rebirth officials hope will occur at the northeastern gateway into Naperville. The adjacent Ogden Mall, with its vacant former Kmart, also is ripe for a redo, and other nearby open spaces are being created by the relocation of two car dealerships.
Students weren't told their design ideas would become reality - but they could inform discussions the city has with professional developers.
"Having the input of our young people ... has been absolutely amazing," Jeffries said. "Let's keep it going and let's see some redevelopment on East Ogden."