Editing Unity Temple (section)

=== Selection of site and architect ===
[[File:Oak park unity temple.jpg|thumb|The temple as seen from Lake Street and Kenilworth Avenue]]

Initially, it was estimated that the new building would cost $50,000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 25, 1905 |title=Building Notes of the Week |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-inter-ocean-building-notes-of-the-we/164301867/ |access-date=January 30, 2025 |work=The Inter Ocean |pages=22 }}</ref>{{Efn-ur|Equivalent to ${{inflation|start_year=1905|index=US-GDP|value=50000|r=-3|fmt=c}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} The fundraising committee requested donations from various sources,<ref name="Sokol p. 22">{{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=22 }}</ref> while the site selection committee recommended that the new temple be built "in some place more central".<ref name="Siry pp. 70—71; Sokol pp. 20–21" /> At the time, two-thirds of the congregation lived south of Lake Street, but congregants favored a site near that street; only one person preferred to keep the existing site.<ref name="Sokol pp. 23–24">{{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|pages=23–24 }}</ref> The committee considered several locations throughout the village.<ref name="Sokol pp. 23–24" /><ref name="Siry p. 71" /> Two of these sites were located at Lake Street and Kenilworth Avenue: a private house on the southwestern corner, and a vacant lot owned by Gale on the southeastern corner.<ref name="Siry p. 71">{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=71 }}</ref> In early August 1905, the congregation paid Gale $10,000<ref name="Siry p. 71" /><ref name="Sokol p. 24">{{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=24 }}</ref> or $11,000.<ref name="Oak Leaves pp. 101–102" />{{Efn-ur|Equivalent to between ${{inflation|start_year=1905|index=US-GDP|value=10000|r=-3|fmt=c}} and ${{inflation|start_year=1905|index=US-GDP|value=11000|r=-3|fmt=c}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} The tract measured {{Convert|150|ft}} along Kenilworth Avenue and either {{Convert|100|ft}}<ref name="Siry p. 71" /> or {{Convert|105|ft}} along Lake Street.<ref name="Sokol p. 24" /> The site complemented the nearby First Presbyterian and Grace Episcopal churches slightly to the west.<ref name="Siry p. 71" /><ref name="Sokol p. 25" />

When the site was selected, the congregation had raised $30,000 toward the new building,<ref name="Sokol p. 25" />{{Efn-ur|Equivalent to ${{inflation|start_year=1905|index=US-GDP|value=30000|r=-3|fmt=c}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} and they began searching for an architect shortly afterward.<ref>{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=|page=71}}; {{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=26 }}</ref> On August 30, the planning committee met with nine architects, selecting four finalists: Frank Lloyd Wright, [[Dwight H. Perkins (architect)|Dwight H. Perkins]], [[William Augustus Otis]], and [[Normand Smith Patton]].<ref>{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=|pages=71–72}}; {{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=28 }}</ref> At their September meeting, Unity Church's board of trustees voted to allow the planning committee to select an architect.<ref name="Sokol p. 37" /> This person was to draw up plans for an edifice costing no more than $30,000.<ref name="Sokol p. 37">{{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=37 }}</ref><ref name="Siry p. 74">{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=74 }}</ref>

Wright had been selected by mid-September.<ref name="Siry p. 73">{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=73 }}</ref><ref name="Sokol p. 39">{{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=39 }}</ref><ref name="The Construction News 1905">{{Cite news |date=September 23, 1905 |title=Chicago |work=The Construction News |page=235 |volume=20 |issue=13 |id={{ProQuest|128406218}} }}</ref> The engineer [[Charles E. Roberts]], who led the church's building committee, had influenced the church's decision to select Wright.<ref name="Siry p. 73" /><ref name="Oak Leaves 1957c">{{cite web |date=June 27, 1957 |title=The Frank Lloyd Wright Legend |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011955-12311959&e=universalist%20church&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_oak_park_19570627_english_30&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 3, 2025 |work=Oak Leaves |pages=30, [https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011955-12311959&e=universalist%20church&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_oak_park_19570627_english_31&df=1&dt=10 31] |via=River Forest Public Library }}</ref> According to Wright, the board had considered hosting an [[architectural design competition]] (which he would have refused to join),<ref name="Oak Leaves 1957c" /><ref>{{harvnb|Wright|2005|ps=.|page=152 }}</ref> but the historian [[Joseph Siry]] writes that there is no evidence that the board ever considered such a competition.<ref>{{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=38 }}</ref> ''[[Construction News (American publication)|Construction News]]'' reported that the temple would cost $35,000 and would be a one-story, brick-and-stone edifice.<ref name="The Construction News 1905" /><ref name="Siry p. 108">{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=108 }}</ref>{{Efn-ur|Equivalent to ${{inflation|start_year=1905|index=US-GDP|value=35000|r=-3|fmt=c}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} Though Wright may have considered using brick, this was never recorded in his plans.<ref name="Siry p. 108" /><ref>{{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=61 }}</ref> Wright instead proposed using concrete to save money,<ref name="Siry p. 108" /><ref name="Wright p. 154">{{harvnb|Wright|2005|ps=.|page=154 }}</ref><ref name="Saint p. 162">{{harvnb|Saint|2003|ps=.|page=162 }}</ref> since, at the time, the church had only $45,000 on hand.<ref name="McCarter2 p. 10" /><ref name="Siry p. 108" /><ref name="Oak Leaves 1964a">{{cite web |date=June 25, 1964 |title=Unity Church Draws Architects to Village |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011963-12311966&e=unity%20church&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_oak_park_19640625_english_7&df=1&dt=9 |access-date=February 3, 2025 |work=Oak Leaves |page=7 |via=River Forest Public Library }}</ref>{{Efn-ur|Equivalent to ${{inflation|start_year=1905|index=US-GDP|value=45000|r=-3|fmt=c}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} The temple was the first public building that Wright designed by himself.<ref name="Jeffrey b0492">{{cite news |last=Jeffrey |first=Laura Stassi |date=May 3, 2009 |title=Oak Park, Ill.: A Village Two American Icons Called Home |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/travel/2009/05/03/oak-park-ill-a-village-two-american-icons-called-home/66de3e9c-9759-43f0-9308-c0dc2a136782/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 }}</ref>