A first floor hallway at the park district's Irwin Center has been updated. The wood paneling has been replaced with a shade of blue highlighted with white accent boxes. The carpeting has been replaced with flooring. (Marilyn Thomas/H-F Chronicle)
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Irwin Center is getting a major update

The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District Marie Irwin Center, 18120 Highland Ave. in Homewood, is getting a facelift.

“It’s time for an update,” said Oralethea Davenport, center manager. 

The facility, which opened in September 1986, is shedding its wood paneling. The walls are being painted in shades of blue and gray, the carpeting has been replaced with flooring, new lighting is making the space much brighter and new furnishings have been ordered.

A first floor hallway at the park district's Irwin Center has been updated. The wood paneling has been replaced with a shade of blue highlighted with white accent boxes. The carpeting has been replaced with flooring. (Marilyn Thomas/H-F Chronicle)
A first floor hallway at the park district’s Irwin Center has been updated. The wood paneling has been replaced with a shade of blue highlighted with white accent boxes. The carpeting has been replaced with flooring. (Marilyn Thomas/H-F Chronicle)

Davenport is excited by the changes that she believes will give the building a new and more inviting appearance. She credits building maintenance supervisor Jim Dineen with saving the park district money. He has been doing most of the work himself – everything from removing the wood paneling to patching walls and painting.

She is working with Dineen to repurpose the paneling. It’s been used in painting projects for the park district preschoolers and the seniors Paint and Sip program. He even cut a pattern of a bowling pin and 15 of those became ornaments for bowlers in the park district’s bowling program.

Davenport is delighted that little pieces of the Irwin Center are now in program participants’ homes.

Davenport said she worked with Debbie Kopas, parks executive director, to plan the updates, and staff at the center helped select the color scheme.  She remembers them settling on the blue palate, but the shades of blue and gray were selected by staff.

“We had blue stripes on a wall so we could see what they looked like. We went from six colors down to two to make our final choice,” Davenport said.

One of the last sections of wood paneling in the lobby area of the Irwin Center will be removed soon. The building is being remodeled and updated. (Marilyn Thomas/H-F Chronicle)
One of the last sections of wood paneling in the lobby area of the Irwin Center will be removed soon. The building is being remodeled and updated. (Marilyn Thomas/H-F Chronicle)

Davenport has been with the park district about 18 months. The first floor pink and blue bathrooms were refreshed by then and Davenport took on the task of updating the rest of the space. Depending on future budgets, she hopes to improve facilities in the lower level of the building too.

“We’re just going to keep doing it by phases and hopefully next year I can move to the counter tops at the front desk and the kitchen and we’ll renovate the walls” in the first floor meeting rooms that are now covered in wall paper.

“The rooms are going to be amazing. It’s like night and day. Once we get the walls painted it’s going to be fabulous,” she said.

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