More than 150 Evanston and Rogers Park residents met Thursday to discuss the environmental and economic consequences of building a marina in Evanston.
Marina advocates propose a site on South Boulevard near Calvary Cemetery, said Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd), in whose ward the marina would be located. The land also borders Rogers Park in Chicago.
The forum was sponsored by Evanston group Citizens for Lakefront Preservation and Rogers Park’s 49th Ward Parks and Beaches Advisory Board.
The marina, first proposed at an Evanston City Council retreat, could bring extra revenue to the city. But Evanston resident Jan Loughlin, a member of Citizens for Lakefront Preservation, said an overwhelming majority of Evanston residents oppose the proposed marina. According to her, petitions have already generated 500 to 600 signatures.
Evanston resident Cameron Davis, executive director of environmental group Lake Michigan Federation who spoke on a panel Thursday night, said choosing a marina’s location is vital.
“At a time when we have an enormous amount of beach closings, this siting doesn’t seem to make sense,” Davis said.
Davis said she and her group did not see any advantages to the site. Her statement received cheers from the audience.
Don Gordon, a member of the group from Chicago’s 49th ward, said citizens who care about Lake Michigan’s environment must lead the fight against the marina.
“It needs to be framed by us as champions of nature and with the resolve that we preserve what we have,” Gordon said.
One panelist, Therese McGuire, investigated the fiscal implications of a marina. She said the total initial infrastructure cost would be $18 million, including filling the lake and building the marina.
But McGuire, a visiting professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, said the annual net revenue for running a marina with 500 boats is $1 million. The city’s general fund budget for 2004-05, used for most of its expenditures and services, is about $78 million.
When an alderman made the request to look into the possibility of a marina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was assigned to perform a federally funded feasibility study.
The study included two sets of phone interviews: a demand analysis, in which 500 boat owners in a 30-mile radius of the area were interviewed, and an attitudinal survey interviewing 500 random Evanston residents. Wynne said the Corps projects the study will be completed in May, and public meetings will follow.
“None of the city’s money is being spent on this,” Wynne said. “It’s all federal money.”
But Loughlin said the government would pay for two-thirds of a marina’s cost at most, while the revenue generated by a marina is not much.
“We would like to stop this,” she said, “before they invest more money.”
