O'Hare Oasis pavilion to close for good Sept. 5
Tri-State Tollway drivers have less than two weeks to savor the delights of the glass-framed O'Hare oasis pavilion before it closes for good.
The Illinois tollway announced Friday the pavilion suspended over I-294 will shut down at midnight Sept. 5 before demolition to make way for a $4 billion Tri-State expansion. Gas stations and the 7-Eleven shops will remain in place, officials said.
The tollway is adding a lane in each direction on the Central Tri-State between Rosemont and Oak Lawn.
Removing the glass and support beams over the tollway's busiest road will be a complex task.
The tollway tore down the Des Plaines oasis pavilion in 2014 when it widened the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90). Workers used a thick mesh curtain intended to prevent debris from landing on the Jane Addams, and glass was removed from the inside of the structure.
Demolishing the O'Hare pavilion and improving the parking lots will cost $4.7 million; work wraps up in 2019.
The O'Hare oasis was built in the 1950s and became a destination point for travelers with a popular Fred Harvey restaurant.
The tollway also will take down the Hinsdale oasis's glass pavilion to make way for Tri-State improvements later.