By Laura OlsonThe Daily Northwestern
Dear Sherman Plaza, welcome to the neighborhood. Your arrival has been highly anticipated for the past seven years, resulting in months-long fights on the City Council over everything from how tall you could grow to how many parking spaces you should offer in your brand-new garage.
Some people championed your addition for the increased property tax revenue and residents your walls would provide. Others thought you were a mistake, the product of overeager developers slowly cluttering the “Evanston skyline” with yet another tower.
Students, though, were mad that your presence removed Osco, CVS’s competition for the Northwestern population, and Osco Liquor, the student haven for cheap booze.
But you still appeared, like an unwanted family member, expecting love and money. Even after developers received approval from the city to start construction, disasters appeared like a parody of some Biblical story. Winds blew through your shell, knocking down plywood from the upper floors – not just once, but twice. Sometimes the tribulations were amusing; other times there was nothing to laugh at. One construction worker lost his life last fall during your construction. You seemed doomed.
Even after the stores began opening their doors, the skeptics continued to begrudge your existence. Until your official opening last week, that is.
It now appears all wounds have healed between the developers, the city and even residents. (The students are still angry about the loss of Osco Liquor, but Cereality and White Hen should help win back our affections.)
The 80 people chomping down on a Cap’n Crunch Cereality concoction Thursday said all was forgiven, and they welcomed you into their hearts.
To me, this sounds like an early-morning sugar high talking. There still will be people who want to hurt you. The Public Art Committee is in the process of deciding on your crowning touch, a piece to adorn your northeastern sidewalk. Let’s hope this selection spurs less outcry than Penelope, the city’s last major public art selection.
(Decisions here are a difficult process – not necessarily because of the discussion itself, but rather because they simply have to take a long period of time. Otherwise how could you tell they are important?)
Some here fear new buildings. The Preservation Commission, whatever Landmarks Illinois says, puts up a valiant battle against those who want to tear down anything it deems historical, regardless of the building’s condition. It might take time before those residents can appreciate you as well.
The NU students will be easy to woo – the additions of high-calorie breakfast food and a gym are a perfect combination to cleanse the guilt of weight-centric 20-somethings. Unfortunately, the two banks won’t find much student business after the weekend trips to White Hen.
Even your neighboring businesses seem to have positive attitudes. Barnes and Noble, which is almost as good as the Sears department store that was originally planned, liked you so much it hopped across the street and moved in.
Now that you have had your ribbon cutting and been baptized into the Evanston community, the road will get easier. Residents have good reasons for beginning to accept you. Your tax dollars are an effective way to earn your keep and win hearts. But can you do me a favor? Stay out of the news for a little while and give us a break.
City Editor Laura Olson is a Medill junior. She can be reached at [email protected].
