The condominium project’s community involvement has started even before construction has.

The open space gives the Evanston Fire Department room to host programs for a technical rescue team composed of about 20 North Shore fire departments: the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Division III.

The Evanston department has used the facility more than six times for a variety of exercises, Deputy Fire Chief Samuel Hunter said.

For example, they can simulate a collapsed ditch and practice removing mannequins using plywood and two-by-fours. The training would be useful if a hole collapsed with someone in it at one of Evanston’s many construction sites.

“We’re one off the few facilities that can go off site,” Hunter said. “We’re really glad we can host the team.”

Although Hunter said the warehouse is the best facility they have used, the firefighters will easily adjust and find a new location when development begins.

The warehouse also provides a learning environment for Evanston Township High School students.

Stephen Yas, president of YAS Architecture, LLC, works with the school’s architectural drawing class, which teaches students about architectural history and principles, as well as how to use professional design software. Lessons with Yas provide a hands-on supplement.

“Anytime there’s an opportunity for experiential learning, that’s 100 percent better than sitting in a classroom,” said Shelley Gates, head of the Applied Sciences and Technologies Department. “(Yas) is really into working with young people. It’s fantastic.”

Students walk the few blocks from the school to the warehouse, where they sit in the empty building to listen to Yas’ accounts of personal experience in the industry and to use the warehouse as a lab.

Yas is holding a competition where students create their own plans for reusing the warehouse, following criteria emphasized in the developments actual design, such as environmental friendliness and energy efficiency.

– Elizabeth Gibson