Closing out months of debate and decades of occupancy, City Council voted 8-1 Monday to remove the possibility of returning city operations to the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center.
The city is currently relocating to the new Lorraine H. Morton City Hall at 909 Davis St. in downtown Evanston, where it has a 15-year lease with the option to leave after seven. With Monday’s vote, the city directed staff to explore options for permanently relocating the Civic Center downtown.
Removing the option to return to 2100 Ridge Ave. will direct staff to explore alternative uses for the building and evaluate other potential long-term locations, according to the meeting agenda.
Before the vote, City Engineer Lara Biggs presented updated estimates for various long-term locations for the Civic Center.
City staff estimated that the total cost of renovating 2100 Ridge Ave. would be $115.8 million. Three downtown alternatives — leasing 909 Davis St., renovating the Evanston Public Library to include the Civic Center and including City Hall in the 900 Clark St. development — would cost between around $60 million and $70 million.
“I think it’s time that we face the facts and realize that this building is not suitable for its current use,” said Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th), a proponent of moving the Civic Center downtown. “It’s better for something else, and we should not spend any more time, energy or effort on wishful thinking that we might want to move back here.”
Only Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) voted against the motion, saying the process has been “marred by lack of transparency.”
Kelly alluded to the state attorney general’s ruling that the council violated the Open Meetings Act when authorizing a deal with Jones Lang LaSalle Midwest.
“Do we want to be embarrassed again?” Kelly said.
Kelly also pushed back against ruling out a return to the Civic Center at this time. She called it “highly inappropriate” to vote on the motion three weeks before the municipal elections and said vacating the building would not expedite the decision-making process.
In the buildup to the April 1 elections, the future of the Civic Center has sparked contentious debate. Several candidates for City Council have incorporated their positions on the issue into their campaigns.
Numerous candidates spoke on the issue during public comment — 3rd Ward candidate John Kennedy, 5th Ward candidate Carlis Sutton and 7th Ward candidate Parielle Davis.
Ald. Devon Reid (8th) argued that “the battle” to stay in the current Civic Center was lost after the council signed the 15-year lease downtown, and Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) added that publicly deciding not to return to the building would signal to developers that the city was seriously considering other options.
Nieuwsma urged the council to focus on the potential gains of moving downtown and opening up the Ridge Avenue property to alternative use.
“What we’re going to be gaining here is a Civic Center located somewhere downtown that’s going to be a great place to work,” Nieuwsma said. “It’s going to be a nice place to visit. It’s going to be much more accessible to the residents of Evanston.”
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— City Council candidates push for Civic Center partial rehab estimates
— Evanston plans full opening of relocated, renamed City Hall by April 1
