Women Out Walking pushes Evanston women to a healthier lifestyle

The warm weather isn’t just enticing kids to start playing outside – it’s also helping out the women involved with Evanston’s 12 week walking program, Women out Walking (W.O.W.).

W.O.W., now in its eighth year, encourages women to track their steps each week and make improvements over the 12 weeks. Public health educator Kristin Preihs, who works for the City of Evanston Department of Health and Human Services, said the program has seen a lot of growth this year, with twice as much turnout.

“The kick-off participation was surprising, with how many people had heard about it and attended the event,” Preihs said.

The Kick-Off event and orientation, held in late March, was attended by more than 300 people and featured performances several groups, including Urban Beat Dance Studio. Every woman who registered gets a t-shirt, pedometer and the chance to win several prizes including private Pilates sessions and entry to a wine tasting party.

With a couple of weeks already done for the program, Preihs said women already seem very engaged.

“We have had a lot of W.O.W. participants organizing group walks, and then also participating in sponsored activities and group walks as well,” she said. “I think the social networks are really great.”

Outside of the physical act of walking, this program presents an opportunity to learn more about women’s health holistically, focusing on other aspects such as social health and mental health. The program supports women as they explore other fitness activities that they normally wouldn’t try with a group of women in the same situation, Preihs said.

The program will conclude with a closing event on June 21 at Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate at Long Field.

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.