SEA Board Supports EAC’s Civic Campus Proposal for 2100 Ridge
Illustrative Concept provided by Evanston Action Coalition
The SEA Board seeks your help.
We hope that the summer finds you enjoying Southeast Evanston—at least on the days with minimal smoke.
As you may know, the SEA Board has been actively engaged in monitoring the City’s planning and rezoning efforts, including Envision Evanston 2045. Separately, the City has launched an initiative called “Putting Assets to Work,” or PAW. The initiative is intended to identify underutilized City assets and consider how they might be used more productively for the community, whether through rehabilitation, reuse, redevelopment, partnerships, or disposition.
The three properties currently being considered are:
The Noyes Cultural Arts Center
The Police and Fire Headquarters at 1454 Elmwood Avenue and 909 Lake Street
The former Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Avenue
The Noyes Cultural Arts Center is already serving Evanston residents as a vibrant cultural hub. Housed in a historic landmark designed by Daniel Burnham, it provides space for The Actors Gymnasium, Piven Theatre Workshop, and more than 30 artists and organizations. Whatever the PAW process ultimately recommends, we believe this important community function should be recognized and protected.
Likewise, the current Police and Fire Headquarters has significant functional limitations. The facility is too small and does not meet modern standards for several critical police and public-safety functions. It will require either massive rehabilitation or replacement at a new location.
The remaining “asset” that appears most in play is the former Civic Center at 2100 Ridge. Originally built as a boarding school, this iconic building served for decades as the hub of Evanston’s government operations and management. Over the years, deferred maintenance contributed to extensive rehabilitation and repair needs. The City Council ultimately pulled up stakes and moved downtown to leased space at 909 Davis—now known as the Lorraine H. Morton City Hall. Similarities to the Mad Hatter’s tea party are easily made.
The PAW process is now considering proposals from the community for the future of the former Civic Center. The SEA Board has examined many of these proposals and feels strongly that the proposal submitted by the grassroots organization Evanston Action Coalition—“A Complete Civic Campus at 2100 Ridge”—deserves our strong support.
We support this proposal because it keeps the building and surrounding grounds under City ownership and public control, helping to avoid the kind of long-term loss of public control exemplified by Chicago’s parking-meter deal. It also lays out a clear vision for making this precious space a genuine community hub for Evanston residents today and for generations to come. Chicago’s parking-meter system was leased to a private concessionaire for 75 years, an arrangement later sharply criticized by the City’s inspector general.
We urge you to read the proposal and, if you concur, cast your vote in support of it on the PAW website.
Thank you,
John Kennedy
President, Southeast Evanston Association
On behalf of the SEA Board