The historic Grosse Point Lighthouse just north of campus is an Evanston icon, the centerpiece of city’s official emblem. Regardless, City Council did not act when asked to approve funds for repairs to adjacent signal houses at a meeting last week.
The two signal houses, which sit between the lighthouse and Lake Michigan, require $590,000 in renovations, according to an administrative memo. The aging structures are crumbling and require new roofs and gutters to meet building codes.
“The physical deterioration of these historic buildings is at a critical point,” wrote Administrative Services Director Joellen Earl in the memo. “Failure to act to conserve these structures at this time may result in their total demise.”
With $101 million in outstanding general obligation debt, City Council searched for ways to avoid adding unnecessary debts during its Jan. 10 meeting. The signal houses are just one of several renovation projects marked by administrative staff as a top priority, which also include a new roof for the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, repairs to the Civic Center and a new greenhouse at the Ecology Center. The 29 Priority 1 investment projects would add $6.2 million to the city’s debt.
City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz has asked the City Council to evaluate which of the 29 projects are most important in order to reduce the impact on the city’s debt by $1 million.
The City Council could ignore the repairs needed at the Grosse Point signal houses until next year. The council will reconvene Feb. 14 to discuss the investment projects.
Historical legacy looms over the council’s decision to treat the crumbling signal houses. Congress approved construction of the 113-foot Grosse Point lighthouse in 1871, nine years after the city’s incorporation, and the signal houses were built in 1880. The lighthouse was the center of a host of investment projects in the early 20th century, including the installation of concrete facing when the original brick structure began to deteriorate. The federal government decommissioned the lighthouse and gave its jurisdiction to the city of Evanston in 1941.
Part of City Council’s reluctance to fund signal house renovations comes from the transfer of authority that took place between the city and the federal government 70 years ago. The Lighthouse Park District, an independent government entity separate from the city of Evanston, is responsible for the lighthouse but not the signal houses or nearby structures.
“We don’t have any money in our budget that would make a dent in the $590,000 that the city needs,” said Lighthouse Park District director Donald Terras. “Our budget will not permit us to get involved with any other capital projects than the 1874 lighthouse.”
Allowing the signal houses to deteriorate could jeopardize two summer camps operated by the Ecology Center that use them, council members said. The center hosts six summer programs with hundreds of campers at four sites throughout the city, Ecology Center Coordinator Karen Taira said. The two camps hosted at the Grosse Point signal houses, “ExoExplorer Camp” and “Summer Summit”, are for children ages 5 to 11 and include lessons on energy conservation and wildlife.
“We would have to find another site and we can’t just move them to the ecology center,” Taira said. “None of our sites are big enough to accommodate hundreds of campers.”
Administrators said it remains uncertain whether the structures would be safe to use in the summer if left untouched.
“Right now we would have to flip a coin,” Parks and Recreation director Doug Gaynor said.
