The City of Evanston’s Planning and Development Committee voted Tuesday to postpone indefinitely a decision on the designation of the Evanston Civic Center as a local historical landmark.
The normal time limit for this decision is 120 days. The Evanston Preservation Commission already recommended the designation.
The Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., was constructed in two phases starting in 1907. It has since fallen into disrepair. Evanston City Council has discussed selling the property to developers and relocating the site of the city’s government.
In response, residents have formed activist groups to save the structure.
The site’s neo-Georgian architecture, its well-known location and its integrity merit landmark status, said Christopher Carey, chairman of the Preservation Commission.
After presentations by Herbert Hill, a lawyer representing Evanston, and by members of the Preservation Commission, aldermen concluded 120 days was not enough time to decide.
John Kennedy, chairman of the Civic Center Committee, said a decision should be put off until at least May 17 so developers could evaluate whether the Civic Center can be rehabilitated.
Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) said making a decision now would be detrimental no matter how the aldermen voted. If landmark status was granted, the marketability of the property would decrease. On the other hand, if the council voted to deny landmark status, a developer could knock down the center and build condominiums, he said.
“I want to maximize the pool from which we can draw prospective developers,” he said. “We can’t set a date certain because we’re dependent on the market.”
Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th) said the question was not whether the Civic Center could be rehabilitated but whether developers would develop the property and how much money they would offer.
The city hopes to get $20 million for the property, said Ald. Ann Rainey (8th), chairwoman of the Planning and Development Committee. She proposed simply putting the property on sale and seeing what happens.
Evanston resident Leigh MacIsaac said money should not be the issue. She said she has been impressed by the Civic Center ever since she moved to the city five years ago.
“I don’t think the money aspect should cloud our judgement about what’s right for our city in the long term,” she said. “The money will come.”
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