New ideas discussed at Harley Clarke committee meeting

On Wednesday, April 15, the Harley Clarke Citizens Committee held its fourth public meeting. The committee was formed and directed by the Evanston City Council to explore possible uses for the  Harley Clarke mansion and surrounding grounds, located on the lakefront  at 2603 Sheridan Road.

SEA Board member Ted Glasoe attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the Southeast Evanston Association, publicly endorsing a resolution of the  Central Street Neighbors Association. Passed on April 1, the resolution advocates for the mansion to be kept in the public domain, supports continued public use and conservation as recommended in the Evanston Lakefront Master Plan of 2008, and opposes any commercial or private development of the property.

Over the last four meetings, the Harley Clarke committee has explored a number of possibilities for the building and grounds, including selling it, demolishing the mansion, subdividing the land for residential lots, and forming a park district to take over the maintenance of the building and grounds.

Another idea, which was discussed during Wednesday’s meeting, is  to keep the property as a city building and find another use for it, perhaps as an education or community center, or as a destination for weddings and other revenue-generating events.  Committee members floated ideas on how to maintain the building, such as finding a benefactor organization that would agree to maintain the mansion but not be permitted to sell or lease  it.

The two-hour meeting was attended by about 35 community members, with almost half speaking during a citizen comment session. All advocated for keeping the mansion in the public domain and preserving the building. Addressing concerns about projected costs for repairing and maintaining the mansion, several professional restorers and contractors who spoke stated they thought the costs would be much less than the city’s estimates.

The Harley Clarke committee will present its recommendations to the City Council on June 8. t. The council  will make the final decision on the future of the mansion and grounds.

“The Harley Clark mansion and the grounds -- including the Jens Jensen garden -- are a rare and precious asset for Evanston,” Glasoe said. “SEA, as well as most who attended the meeting, feels it is imperative to preserve this property as a public lakefront space for residents to enjoy for generations to come,”  Glasoe said.

The Harley Clarke Citizens Committee will hold its next meeting on April 29. In the meantime, interested citizens may email their thoughts and ideas for the committee’s consideration to harleyclarkemansion@cityofevanston.org.

Show how much you love Evanston

Last week, Evanston was selected to represent the United States as the 2015 Earth Hour City Capital in World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour City Challenge. The competition’s eleven-member jury composed of renowned leaders in urban sustainability noted Evanston’s impressive commitment and demonstrable progress toward fighting climate change.

However, Evanston still needs YOUR help to win the We Love Cities Campaign! Everyone is still encouraged to vote daily for Evanston in the We Love Cities Competition through Friday, March 27 at WeLoveEvanston.org. 

Evanston is currently in second place worldwide with over 10,000 votes.

You do not need to live in Evanston to participate.

Voting on the website is limited to once per person, per day, per city. However, you can make multiple submissions via Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #WeLoveEvanston along with making multiple suggestions per day on WeLoveEvanston.org. Please note that all Twitter and Instagram profiles must be public in order for votes to count. Photos already shared on Instagram can be tagged with #WeLoveEvanston now and will be counted as well.

New project to begin construction on Chicago Avenue and Main Street

Image by Kyle May.

One of the busiest corners in Evanston is about to become one of the biggest construction zones in the city.

The intersection of Chicago and Main will soon be the home of the Chicago + Main Mixed Use Building project, a nine story building that will hold 112 upscale rental units above retail outlets and office spaces. Located at 835 Chicago Avenue, this project is developed by Atlantic Realty Partners and Riverside Investment & Development Company. The general contractor, Power Construction Company, has done extensive work in Evanston including the Mather LifeWays Home and Northwestern’s new admissions office and music building.

On a cold winter night in late February, more than 60 Evanston residents gathered to discuss this project at the Third Ward meeting at Hemenway United Methodist Church, according to SEA President Sheila Sullivan, who attended the meeting.

“I was very surprised by the number of attendees on such a frigid night,” Sullivan said. “They were spilling out of the room.”

Representatives from Power Construction described the project and the four phases it would take over the course of 16 months, ranging from mobilization to installing the exterior skin and interior build-out. The project is expected to be done by June 2016, according to Power’s project manager Jerry Winchester.

At the meeting, residents expressed concern about many issues, primarily that the project would reduce the already scarce parking. During construction, four metered spots on Chicago Avenue and seven metered spots on Main Street will be removed. Additionally, residents expressed concern that construction workers would be parking on residential streets and limiting space that way.

In response, project managers said they have installed a rule requiring the Power employees and all subcontractors to carpool, use public transit, park in the nearest city garage, or in the lot at 935 Chicago Avenue.

“They brief all of their workers on parking rules,” Sullivan said. “They said they’re very strict about that – if they find a violation of the parking rule, the person will be immediately removed from the project.”

Residents were also concerned about noise and traffic congestion – a city ordinance governs that construction hours can only be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on some Saturdays. Power said that construction will generally occur from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on some Saturdays. Whether this will be a problem will be measured when the project gets underway beginning in April.

Alderman Melissa Wynne urged residents to call Evanston’s non emergency number, 311, if they have any questions or concerns during this project. Mr. Winchester also encouraged residents to call him to report the license plate number of any vehicles violating the parking rule or of any trucks idling in the streets or alleys.

Citizens Committee seeks ideas for Harley-Clarke

Harley-Clarke mansion. Image source: City of Evanston.

The City recently formed a Citizens Committee to seek and vet ideas for repurposing the Harley-Clarke property.  SEA Board Member Linda Damashek sits on the Committee.  The Committee is charged with reporting its findings to the City Council by early June.  Ideas so far have ranged from razing the mansion and reclaiming its footprint as parkland to transforming the mansion into a private boutique hotel.

SEA believes that private commercialization of the mansion is the wrong approach and that keeping the property in public hands for the benefit of all Evanstonians is essential. 

The Committee continues to seek ideas for options on the Harley-Clarke property, including potential funding mechanisms.  Ideas can be sent to harleyclarkemansion@cityofevanston.org. 

The Committee’s next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 25th, 7pm at the Civic Center, and the public is invited to attend. 

A good source of further information on this issue is the Evanston Parks and Lakefront Association (EvPLA), which can be found on Facebook via www.evpla.org.  

NU Dance Marathon supports midwest and local causes

Thirty consecutive hours of doing anything sounds taxing, and a handful of Northwestern students are about to take on a challenging activity: dancing.

This weekend marks the 41st Northwestern University Dance Marathon, a fundraising event that Northwestern students put on each year. This year, the event primarily benefits Starlight Children’s Foundation Midwest, an organization that strives to improve the lives and health of children all around the world. But NUDM also raises money to help out right here in Evanston.

Money raised will also go towards the Evanston Community Foundation, allowing students to engage not just Northwestern but the community that surrounds it. In fact, ECF has been a secondary beneficiary of NUDM since 1997 specifically to pursue the goal of uniting Northwestern’s campus with the Evanston community and greater Chicagoland area.

ECF works to help Evanston thrive as a vibrant and inclusive community, serving as an umbrella organization for a number of local groups. Since its inception in 1986, ECF has provided a variety of services to the community, including fostering private philanthropy, building endowments for current and future opportunities and allocating grants to other nonprofits.

Thanks to NUDM, ECF has been able to provide far more grants, with students donating more than $1 million dollars to ECF through multiple dance marathons. If NUDM sounds unfamiliar, perhaps you remember seeing the students “canning” on specific street corners of Evanston. This is a fundraising that many students employ, wearing yellow bibs and asking for money to reach their $400 minimum fundraising total.

NUDM is known to be one of the nation’s largest student-run philanthropies, raising more than $15 million for over 30 charities since 1975. What’s in store for dancers this year? Find out by checking out a live-stream of the event at www.nudm.org or paying a visit to the tent yourself at the Norris University Center.