A proposed law could allow people younger than 21 to attend fundraising and private events at bars after midnight. Five weeks ago Evanston City Council passed an ordinance forbidding anyone under 21 from such activity.

Alds. Cheryl Wollin (1st) and Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) began looking into language for an amendment while the original midnight ban was still before the City Council, Wollin said. Aldermen will discuss the proposed ordinance at tonight’s council meeting.

“My hope is that it allows some leeway for fundraising events,” Wollin said. “This may take some lobbying with the other aldermen.”

The ordinance would require groups to submit written notice to the city a week before holding a bar night. Then people under 21 could attend as long as they are clearly marked as underage.

The current ban only affects Evanston restaurants with class B1 liquor licenses – Prairie Moon, 1502 Sherman Ave.; The Keg of Evanston, 810 Grove St.; Tommy Nevin’s Pub & Restaurant, 1450 Sherman Ave.; Bill’s Blues, 1029 Davis St.; and 1800 Club, 1800 Sherman Ave.

“It’s not necessarily a solution,” said Robert Strom, co-owner of Prairie Moon, “But at least it allows for the majority of events that used to take place.”

Last school year 19 Northwestern student groups held bar nights to raise money. Concerned about how the ban would affect student organizations and philanthropy, the Associated Student Government brought group leaders together to find a solution.

“When the original ordinance passed we were quite disappointed,” ASG President Patrick Keenan-Devlin said. “Since then we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to get an amendment written.”

The Music senior said External Relations Chair Jill Sager and Executive Vice President Jay Schumacher led ASG’s efforts.

Schumacher said Wollin and Patrick Casey, a member of Evanston’s Liquor Control Review Board, better understood the students’ reasoning behind bar nights after speaking with NU administrators and ASG .

“I don’t think they were aware of the regulations the university puts on bar nights,” he said. “They were comforted to see there is a very strenuous application process.”

The ordinance does not mention a fee for exceptions or a limit to the number of bar nights, points Schumacher said he was pleased to see.

But Wollin said she supports the addition of a quota. She said it would help manage the number of exceptions granted to NU groups and other Evanston organizations.

If adding a quota would help the ordinance gain enough votes to pass, ASG could accept the compromise as long as it did not require a decrease from the current number of bar nights, Schumacher said. He said ASG wants student groups to get the most money out of their philanthropy events.

“We’re just trying to get students back in the bars as soon as we can,” he said.

Aldermen also will consider holding a meeting to discuss granting the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., landmark status.

Aldermen have proposed moving the seat of government and selling the deteriorating center to help pay for the move. As a landmark building the center could be more difficult to sell.

The structure, which reaches its 100th birthday in 2009, served as a girls school before becoming the city office building.

The Preservation Commission unanimously recommended the council approve to make the building a city landmark on Oct. 26.

The structure demonstrates a quality and unique example of Georgian-revival architecture, according to the Commission’s report to the council. The Commission also cited the structure’s meaning to the community as a cause for preservation.

The council must decide whether to grant landmark status by Feb. 23.

The City Council could also vote tonight on a recommendation to list the center on the National Register of Historic Places.

Reach Elizabeth Gibson at [email protected].