Northlight Theatre broke ground for its new site on Church Street in March, marking the start of construction for the theater, which is set to open in fall of 2026.
The move has long been in the works; Executive Director Timothy Evans said that talks of moving back to Evanston from Skokie began in 2010.
“We will be able to curate a better theater experience and audience experience than we have ever before,” Evans said.
The theater was originally founded in Evanston in 1974 as the Evanston Theatre Company, which is why the board wanted to move back to the city, Evans said. Northlight initially looked to partner with developers, but then decided to find a location on its own, Evans said. In the summer of 2022, Northlight purchased the property at 1012 Church St. for its new theater.
While the current theater is an adapted space, the new theater will be a space built specifically for performance, Evans said.
The theater will have state-of-the-art light and sound systems, a bar and café in the lobby, rehearsal space on the second floor and event space that can be rented. It will also run its own box office.
“I think Northlight’s groundbreaking is the start of a really important new development in downtown Evanston,” said Andy Vick, executive director of Downtown Evanston. “Once the project is completed, we will have a professional equity theater downtown that is going to draw lots of theater-goers to our community.”
Vick said Downtown Evanston has met and worked closely with Northlight’s leadership team to ensure their transition back to Evanston is as easy and publicized as possible. He also said he hopes the theater will be an asset as the city continues to redevelop and grow.
Within the first five years, Northlight’s patrons are expected to generate $56 million in spending in Evanston and more than $450,000 in tax revenue, according to a Northlight press release. Vick said he hopes it will have a catalytic effect by bringing more people to downtown and encouraging other businesses to open in the area around the theater.
Evanston Arts Council Chair Richard Cándida-Smith said he has similar hopes. Cándida-Smith said Northlight’s new site will be a cornerstone that the rest of the arts community can build on.
“It’s really an important part of creating an arts district in the downtown area,” he said. “The Northlight people have to really just focus on doing theatre, and other people who want to do dance or music or art will have to figure out what will make it possible for them to take advantage of the downtown area.”
Pre-construction, Northlight raised $27 million, surpassing its original benchmark goal. More than 350 individuals, foundations, corporations and government sources contributed to this amount, and about 80% of those donors were from Evanston, according to Evans.
Evans said he is confident that the theater will be able to raise the remaining amount, about $4 million more, by the time it opens this fall.
Some in the Evanston theatre community expressed concern that other organizations weren’t receiving the same level of support.
“When they announced they were coming back and the city was kind of fawning over them to get them back, there was some resentment in the theatre community,” said John Frank, the founder of the now-dormant 2nd Act Players. “Evanston has a lot of theaters that people don’t seem to know about and that the city doesn’t really promote.”
Still, responses from existing theatre organizations regarding Northlight’s return have been overwhelmingly positive. Frank said Northlight will definitely be a draw downtown.
Kingsley Day, resident director of The Savoyaires, a North Shore theatre group, said he supports anything that will enliven and strengthen the arts. He looks forward to Evanston becoming more of a destination for theater-goers.
Executive Director of The Actors Gymnasium Murphy Monroe also said that he is excited about the possibility of Northlight bringing more theater-goers to Evanston.
“Amazing things have come out of Evanston,” Monroe said. “There’s just an incredible amount of powerful theatre happening in Evanston now and happening throughout our history. Having Northlight back in town, right in the mix of things, is great news for everyone.”
Email: r.huizenga@dailynorthwestern.com
Related Stories:
