Consultants working for a national initiative that seeks to revitalize under-utilized spaces across their country made their first appearance of a community feedback tour at a hybrid 7th Ward meeting Thursday evening to discuss three Evanston municipal properties.
The project is part of a larger “Putting Assets to Work” initiative for municipal redevelopment in cities around the U.S.
Evanston received a $985,000 award from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant Program in September 2024 and hired a trio of consultants in February. The city’s contract with the group was put on hold for paperwork issues and reauthorized in July.
Third Ward resident Michael McLean Jr. represented the team at the meeting. One of his partners, Ryan Porter, tuned in online before leaving to present at a 5th Ward meeting later that night.
Putting Assets to Work would focus on revamping 2100 Ridge Ave. — where the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center was housed — the Noyes Cultural Arts Center and Evanston Police Department and Fire headquarters, McLean said. Since the former civic center and the arts center are both just outside the 7th Ward, the group will present to nearby community groups in the coming weeks, he added.
McLean encouraged attendees to share creative ideas to rejuvenate the three sites. He called the vacant Ridge Avenue site “a completely blank slate” and said the group will consult with relevant stakeholders to gauge how to best improve the arts center.
“We’re inviting you to really take ownership of the opportunity to express ideas around these assets, because they’re our assets,” he said. “There’s no predetermined path here.”
With the new Northlight Theatre under construction downtown, Ald. Parielle Davis (7th) said the city should consider using some of the arts center’s space to open up more room for Evanston Parks and Recreation’s summer programming. She added that she would be open to building senior housing at the Ridge Avenue site.
Seventh Ward resident and former council candidate Mary Rosinski built upon Davis’ suggestion for the Ridge Avenue site with ambitions for green spaces and a daycare center. She said that residents, city staff and the consultants on the project should look to community spaces in nearby suburbs for inspiration.
The work done on the arts center should help bring more artists and business interests to the area, Rosinski said, pushing back on what Davis wanted of the arts center improvements. As a former real estate broker herself, Rosinski said she trusted McLean to revitalize the space, which could enhance the entire Noyes Street business district by extension.
“I just feel like the arts community in this city is a core identity that we should really be building,” she said. “That’s why people used to come down to Evanston when I was a kid.”
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— City Council supports Noyes Center renovations, yet timeline remains uncertain
