Northwestern officials met with Evanston officials and community members at their end-of-year community meeting Thursday. Much of the conversation centered around expectations and plans for Dillo Day, NU’s student-organized music festival — which will take place Saturday.
Jason McKean, assistant dean of students and director of strategy and operations, oversees the University’s Off-Campus Life program. He said health and safety will be priorities on Dillo Day.
NU has doubled the amount of public trash cans placed outside to cut down on waste and added portable toilets in response to community concerns over public urination, McKean said. He added that some students have signed up for a cleanup event Sunday morning.
“We know it’s an event that our students love and appreciate,” McKean said. “But it also takes a toll on the community, so we try to put that back in the right place and help our students to do that.”
First-year engineering design innovation graduate student Darya Daneshmand, co-chair of Mayfest Productions, said the organization has worked with the University to ensure a safe Dillo Day environment through risk mitigation strategies and the Smart Dillo campaign, which encourages students to celebrate in a healthy, responsible way.
University Police Cmdr. Matthew Wietbrock, commander of Evanston patrol operations and accreditation, said University officers will work closely with Evanston public responders and NU partners to resolve issues that arise on Dillo Day by creating an emergency operations center.
“It’s really a one stop shop when it comes to information,” he said. “The term unified command really applies. The concept behind that is to be able to deconflict and rapidly address any issues that may come up either on the Evanston campus or within the near neighborhoods.”
In response to Ald. Clare Kelly’s (1st) request for an NU contact, Wietbrock said residents could call either EPD or NUPD’s non-emergency numbers for disruptions that were not safety concerns.
Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein, Rabbi and Executive Director at Tannenbaum Chabad House, asked whether NU had a plan for demonstrations that could occur during the event.
Mona Dugo, Assistant Vice President of Wellness and Dean of Students, said that administrators did not anticipate any demonstrations during Dillo Day, but policies are in place should one occur.
NU officials also fielded questions regarding the Ryan Field demolition and briefed the community on other campus construction projects.
Michael Musial, senior superintendent of Turner Construction, a contractor on the Ryan Field renovation, said that the last of the Ryan Field structural demolition will occur this week. Next week, contractors will load out remaining debris and remove the foundation.
Kelly and Ald. Bobby Burns (5th) said they received many calls from constituents about traffic from trucks leaving the demolition site. Musial said the current volume of traffic will continue through the summer, but it should begin to taper off in August or September.
Community members also expressed concerns over dust, noise and vibrations. Musial said the vibrations from jackhammering should stop by the end of May, and vibrations from the earth retention sheeting installation should stop a couple weeks after.
Dave Davis, NU’s senior executive director of neighborhood and community relations, added that his office has provided temporary office spaces for community members who work from home and find the noise intrusive.
“We want to thank our residents for your constant engagement in making sure that our city, our community becomes and remains the best place to live, work, learn and play,” he said.
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