Neighbors bring the magic of Harry Potter to Oak Park

Oak Park residents along 33rd Avenue and 4th Street have been coming together for years to celebrate Halloween with a magical flourish.

Neighbors Sumpter and Aimee Phelps have poured time, supplies and community spirit into Oak Park's Diagon Alley, a replica of the Harry Potter location. 

Sumpter has been in Oak Park for 37 years and Phelps and her partner for 20. They are pillars of the Oak Park community effort to create a spooky and festive atmosphere every Halloween. 

Along with the Diagon Alley replica, each year, they also decorate Oak Park's Halloween House, across the street from the replica.

"There are the three archways beginning at 33rd and 4th just off Broadway," Phelps said. "We start in September and it takes 2 months to put up."

Both Halloween House and Diagon Alley are made possible by neighborhood teamwork and are free for the public to enjoy. When the lights come on at night on 33rd Ave at 4th Street, it looks magical. 

"It's growing as we are starting to get publicity.  Every weekend there are kids in Diagon Alley screaming with delight. I heard them knock on Dobby's door," Sumpter said.  "I had them make Dobby's house, this is where he now lives."

Both Sumpter and Phelps want Diagon Alley to keep expanding — while simultaneously growing community interest in reading and literature. They say they hope a currently vacant church at the end of the alley could become a neighborhood library.

"it's about reading, that's the key really. It's very interactive," Sumpter said.

Organizers of the festivities say they hope to continue to expand, including adding additional characters from children's literature.

On Halloween there will be a maze right off Diagon Alley for kids. Lights come on at 5:30 p.m. and turn off at 11 p.m. each night.

Phelps says, "it's a lot of fun, really good neighbors in this space we want to continue to give back."

This year's Halloween theme is killer crows.

Organizers say they'd like to see more characters from children's books come to life down the street on the other side of Diagon Alley if they get more artists to volunteer.  

Trick or treaters can come to both Diagon Alley and Halloween House across the street for free candy on Halloween night. Lights come on at 5:30 and turn off at 11 pm.