Hulking skeletons of exposed steel. Mounds of dirt piled by the ton. Craters in the earth that look like the aftermath of an artillery test.

The scenes are familiar to the Northwestern students and Evanston residents who have passed by massive construction sites every day for the past six months.

And according to Evanston officials, local developments will only continue to grow.

Asst. City Manager Judith Aiello said Evanston has more projects slated for development than she has seen in the past 25 years.

Aiello said the boom can be attributed to a strong economy, but also to plans made by the city decades ago to promote the growth of the city’s downtown.

IN THE PIPELINE

Developers for Thomas J. Klutznick Co. will present their plans for the Sherman Avenue Plaza to a joint meeting of the Evanston City Council and Economic Development Committee Wednesday night. The project will require developers to demolish most of the block of Sherman Avenue between Church and Davis streets to construct a $110 million retail and residential facility.

But the Sherman Plaza is only the next development at the door in a long line of projects seeking the city’s approval.

The opening of the Church Street Plaza in November represented the first of several developments opening in the next years that officials hope will change the character of Evanston.

The Church Street Station, an 84-unit condominium located across the street from the movie theater and retail center, also will feature a fitness center, indoor pool and party room.

Project developers are selling land for a 175-unit condominium development on Maple Street about a block north of the Station. Optima, Inc. has plans for a 13-story condominium at 800 Davis St.

The condominiums are going quickly and at high costs.

“Most of the units are being pre-sold before the building is even in the ground,” said Community Development director James Wolinski.

But the rapid development has not come without response from the neighboring homes and businesses. Though Aiello said Evanston is moving toward a livelier downtown, some residents have urged the city not to rush into large-scale growth.

For example, Wolinski said several residents spoke against an 11-story, 200-unit condominium near the corner of Ridge and Emerson streets.

Wolinski said residents asked for an eight-story height maximum and a lower room density to prevent traffic problems in the area.

Aiello said the push from residents not to approve the plan would be strong enough to stop it.

“(The developers) are probably going back to the drawing board,” Aiello said.

RESISTANCE AND RESPONSE

Joyce Elias and Scott Steinman have an objection to development in Evanston.

The two have been complaining to the city since last October that construction of Chicago Avenue Place, 1208 Chicago Ave., caused damage to the basement of their home.

Developer Tom Roszak has said their home, and homes of other neighbors who are complaining, are too far from the site to have been affected by the construction.

Elias and Steinman are now trying to block the developer from moving the project into its next phase, which would result in more of the vibrations that neighbors said shook their homes.

Evanston resident Ashraf Manji said though he applauds Roszak for compromising with the neighborhood on the building’s design, Roszak and the city must be accountable for any damage the development causes.

But residents have not been the only people to battle development.

Owners of Olive Mountain restaurant, 814 Church St., held out in negotiations with the Sherman Avenue Plaza for months, sending city officials to the state capital in a last-ditch effort to get the building condemned.

Aiello said the success of small businesses has been cyclical.

“I think we’ll see a resurgence of smaller, neighborhood retailers,” Aiello said. “It ebbs and flows.”

But that cycle may be pulling some local businesses under.

The Loews Theater on Central Street closed within months of the Century Theatres opening in the Church Street Plaza.

Aiello said the Light Opera Works and the Dance Center of Evanston both will bring their plans to turn the former theater building into a performing arts center before the city council on May 23.

For most of the cases, the city has been responsive to the needs of the community.

Concerns about a “canyon effect” developing near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Main Street and complaints from residents about the height of new buildings forced the city council to place a three-month moratorium on development in the area.

’24-HOUR DOWNTOWN’

At the May 7 City Council meeting, Ald. Gene Feldman (9th) told members of the council of an older Chicago woman he met who said she was now coming to Evanston on the weekends rather than going to Lincoln Park for movies and lunch.

The addition of movie theaters and housing to downtown Evanston has moved the city closer to what Aiello said was Evanston’s goal of a “24-hour downtown.”

“People come to work in Evanston and go home, but we want people to stay after 5 p.m.” Aiello said. “You’ll have both work and play in downtown Evanston.”

More liberal alcohol laws and the addition of a live-music venue, Nevin’s Live, also have helped reform the downtown. Evmark, a promotional company that supports downtown Evanston, has re-launched “It’s Thursday, ” a weekly event intended to draw students and residents to local bars and restaurants.

“Evanston is what I call an ‘urban-suburban community.’ It has the amenities of an urban area, but it also has a small-town feel,” Wolinski said. “But I think that’s changing.”

Wolinski said the plan for downtown Evanston was created in the late 1980s, and Aiello said the outline and infrastructure came earlier.

“The developments are building on a foundation that has been there for years,” Aiello said, citing Evanston’s library system, streetscapes and research park. “It’s all coming together.”

Wolinski agreed and said easy access to Metra and El trains “is always a selling point.”

Wolinski said the much of the entertainment and residential developments are following a pattern established by local restaurants.

“They say Evanston is the dining capital of the North Shore,” Wolinski said.

But if developments continue as they have, Evanston could become the center for much more.