The Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, a non-profit organization that lobbies for the conservation of historical sites, included Evanston on their first list of “Preservation Onions” last week.

The Preservation Council has included sites in Evanston on its Chicagoland Watch List, a collection of endangered buildings, every year since 2003.

“We’ve had ongoing issues with the City Council’s decisions,” said Eiliesh Tuffy, director of preservation programs.

Tuffy cited several incidents that led to the staff-generated decision, including the recent reconstruction of the Kendall College block, which lies just west of Northwestern’s campus.

The college, which sold its 3.5-acre Evanston property in 2003, was housed in a local historic district, which also happened to fall within the federal government’s National Register of Historic Places, Tuffy said.

A developer proposed to demolish the entire block between Lincoln and Colfax streets and Sherman and Orrington avenues where the college used to be, and then rebuild the area for residential purposes, but his proposal was turned down by the city’s Plan Commission after the Preservation Council lobbied to preserve the administration building.

But the City Council eventually approved an altered proposal to construct only single-family homes against the wishes of the Preservation Council, said Carlos Ruiz, the city’s municipal preservation coordinator.

“The elected officials looked at different aspects and ended up voting against the (Plan Commission) recommendations,” Ruiz said. “They did what they felt was right under the circumstances.”

Not all of the buildings in the Kendall College block were “architecturally significant,” said Ruiz, whose job often entails mediation between the City Council and the independent Preservation Council.

The main cause of frustration for the Preservation Council is the continual violation of the city’s preservation ordinance, Tuffy said.

“Why even have it?” she asked.

But Ald. Delores Holmes (5th) said the city listens carefully to all advice before taking action and that the entire Kendall College area was not an individually designated landmark.

“The (recommendation of the) Preservation Commission is valued by the City Council,” Holmes said.

The ordinance also was violated in 2006, when several wood frame cottages in Evanston were demolished, despite being designated as historical preservation sites, Tuffy said.

The future of the Evanston Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Ave. is another source of tension between the city’s elected officials and the Preservation Council, Tuffy said.

The almost 100-year-old building’s roof is falling apart and its utilities – including its heating system – are in need of improvement.

The council has favored finding a new location for the government offices and selling the existing property to developers, but some argue that the historic building need not be knocked down.

Despite the negative attention, the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois did not name Evanston “The Stinkiest Onion of the Bunch.”

That honor went to Lombard, Ill., for the demolition of its historic DuPage Theater.

Reach Sean Walsh at [email protected].