Evanston City Council approved the first stage of Chicago Avenue streetscape renovations Monday night, but some aldermen questioned the future of the plan.
The project would widen sidewalks, narrow the street and add trees, curbs and lighting along the section between South Boulevard and Lake Street. The estimated cost is $7 million to $8 million, but the council approved only $97,015 Monday night.
That sum will go to Smith Group JJR, which will survey the entire length of the streetscape but will only design a prototype of a block between Keeney Street and South Boulevard.
Dubin Residential, a developer building townhouses on that block, will contribute $125,000 to help implement the streetscape plan there. The city previously approved an additional $280,000.
Construction on the prototype is scheduled to be completed June 1.
Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) was the only alderman to vote against the project. At the Administration and Public Works Committee meeting before the session, Moran said the streetscape was “a nice project,” but could create an unreasonable expectation that the city finish the remainder.
After the city finishes the first block, “people will be saying ‘When will they start on the next block?’ — which is only logical,” Moran said.
If the city begins construction without a complete funding plan, the project might be delayed indefinitely, Moran said. But if the prototype increases demand for the plan, he said, the city might have to come up with money it doesn’t have.
The “endless requirement for millions” might force other projects to languish until “the next millennium,” he said.
Ald. Gene Feldman (9th) argued that starting construction now would actually make funding easier. A well-designed prototype could encourage other developers to contribute funds as Dubin Residential did.
The council would not be obligated to finish the project immediately, Feldman said.
“People want a lot of stuff,” Feldman said. “So do you, so do I. But you either have a good system to provide for it or you don’t.”
Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said even though her ward had many needs, she did not feel efforts there would be threatened by the streetscape proposal.
“I don’t think we’re selling out souls by suggesting this,” she said. “But the caveat is that we’re saying when the bids come in, we may not be able to support it.”
The council did not act on two agenda items. The liquor license transfer in connection with the sale of the Omni Orrington hotel to Greenfield Partners, a Chicago real estate investment company, was held at the request of city staff.
Rainey also requested that a zoning ordinance she proposed concerning convenience stores be held. A legal memo sent out after a previous discussion of the ordinance prompted her to remove the ordinance for now, she said.
Before City Council met, the Administration and Public Works Committee also discussed how to accommodate two major Evanston arts festivals that are scheduled for the same weekend in June.
The festivals already have booked artists and cannot reschedule, said Jonathan Perman, president of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the Fountain Square Arts Festival. He said the Chamber accidentally scheduled its festival on the same weekend as the Custer’s Last Stand Arts Festival on June 21 and 22.
Rainey predicted that the scheduling snafu will cause problems since both festivals draw large crowds. Northwestern’s graduation also is scheduled for that weekend.
“I don’t care how you cut it, this will be chaos,” she said.
Rainey said the chamber should pay for city expenses resulting from the mistake. In the future, she said, festival organizers should submit their dates 50 weeks in advance.
