City Council approved the city’s plan to apply for a $2 million federal grant to renovate Hilda’s Place and discussed John Keno & Company, Inc‘s contract for Evanston Dog Beach ADA accessibility entrance Monday night.
On Feb. 20, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity opened applications for parts of the $15 million of federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Coronavirus Urban Shelter Grant.
Evanston Housing and Grants Manager Sarah Flax said the goal of this grant is to fund construction, rehabilitation or acquisition of properties to increase capacities of homeless shelters to pre-pandemic levels.
Two million of federal funding would be put toward rehabbing Hilda’s Place, a homeless shelter operated by Connections for the Homeless. Currently, Hilda’s Place only serves as a day shelter with a capacity of 30 people since the pandemic, Flax said.
“Hilda’s Place operated as a day shelter and provided vital services for people who were on the street, homeless and just needed all sorts of help,” Flax said.
Flax said the money will go to renovating the lobby, offices and kitchen and adding a new elevator, two men’s, women’s and unisex toilet and shower rooms and a congregate sleeping room with occupancy of up to 30 beds.
Flax said if the full award is granted, it would match U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s $2 million grant, announced in December of 2022. This would allow the project to be completed without any local tax dollars, she said.
“I wish we had this opportunity pop up for everything else that came to council that cost money,” Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) said. “We could reasonably be asked to put some Evanston resources to solve this problem, but we don’t have to because there’s federal money available so it’s a no brainer.”
Ald. Krissie Harris (2nd) questioned what would happen if the Illinois DCEO did not award $2 million for the renovation. She asked if there was a contingency plan if the full award is not granted because the city would not have to make up the difference. The council approved the application 6-2, with Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) and Harris dissenting.
City Council voted 5-3 to table an action on a $693,577 bid from John Keno & Company, Inc to build an ADA ramp and pathway adjacent that provided wheelchair access to Evanston dog beach.
Last year, Evanston Dog Beach reopened after being closed in 2016 due to rising lake levels. Initially, the beach did not have an ADA accessible access point so City Council approved a temporary ramp with goals to create a more permanent solution.
In 2020, City Council approved a concept for a permanent pathway that connected the parking lot to the beach and was adjacent to the beach space so only a small part of the pathway was on the actual beach.
Engineering and Capital Planning Bureau Chief Lara Biggs said since this design would have very little of the pathway on the beach, less infrastructure would be needed for withstanding waves, sand and other environmental factors.
Biggs said the city’s approved design is robust and can withstand many different conditions including varying sand and wave levels. She also said she is concerned that other solutions would not be able to withstand the environment.
“One of the reasons why the structure we have is more expensive (is) it’s very robust. It operates at different lake levels, different sand levels (and) it’s designed to stay in service under a lot of different conditions,” Biggs said.
Biggs warned City Council that John Keno & Company, Inc.’s bid’s hold would quickly expire after the meeting, possibly resulting in a higher price for the project or a retraction of the bid.
Evanston resident John Kennedy prepared a slide presentation with a possible alternative solution for a permanent accessible point. His design utilized space adjacent to the existing ramp on the beach and transformed some boat parking to handicap parking because it was closer to the beach.
Kennedy noted that the city’s design was 450 feet from the farthest parking spot to the dog beach while his alternative design was only 107 feet. He also said the predicted cost of his alternative would hover around $50,000.
“It’s unfair mostly to the disabled community that we are not exploring this option. We have to explore this option,” Kelly said.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
—City flag approved, new affordable housing authorized at City Council
