The Evanston Preservation Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend that the Evanston City Council declare the Evanston Civic Center a historic landmark.

The recommendation cites the Civic Center’s “unique location and distinct visual appearance” as well as its “park-like setting, prominent size, quality and location.”

“The building and property itself stands as an important structure in Evanston,” said Christopher Carey, commission chairman. “It is worthy of being renovated and preserved.”

The building at 2100 Ridge Ave. has been a subject of debate since January, when the City Council concluded that it would not spend an estimated $20 million on necessary renovations. Instead they would try to sell the building and move the city offices to a new location. In March a group called Friends of the Civic Center filed a landmark nomination for the building.

The council feels that a landmark designation would make selling the building more difficult because it would place restrictions on changes to the building, including preventing its demolition, Carey said.

When reviewing the nomination, the commission considered whether the Civic Center had architectural distinction; cultural significance or a unique location; or was the work of an important builder, designer or architect.

The commission determined that the building, originally built in 1901 as a Catholic girls’ school, is an example of the Georgian revival style popular in the early 1900s, most visible through its red brick, low roof and particular window arrangements.

It also found the building to be culturally important, both as a seat of government and as the home of Marywood Academy, the only Catholic girls’ school in Evanston at a time when much of the community was Protestant. The city moved its offices into the building in the 1970s.

“What stood out to me as significant…was its history of the last 30 years as a Civic Center,” commission member Jordan Cramer said. He mentioned how it is prominently visible on the Evanston Web site, along with the Dawes House and the Evanston Lighthouse.

“They sell postcards of it, and you don’t do that if it’s not significant,” he said. “People associate this building as the seat of government and as a gathering place.

Commission member Ann Dienner agreed that the building has made a lasting impression on Evanston residents.

“It’s become a logo for the City of Evanston,” she said.

The commission also found the Civic Center to be of high “integrity,” because it has not been moved or had inappropriate additions of other styles or materials.

But Carey said he was unsure of how the Council will use the recommendation.

“I hope that the City Council gives it a lot of thought, and listens to the people of Evanston,” Carey said. “Regardless of whether they feel that city business should be conducted in this building, they should consider the importance of this building to the city of Evanston.”

Reach Ash Jain at [email protected].