Fourth Ward residents discussed the city’s Putting Assets to Work program at a monthly ward meeting on Tuesday.
The program aims to reimagine and renovate three city-owned properties: the former Civic Center, the Evanston Police and Fire Headquarters and the Noyes Cultural Arts Center.
A $985,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, awarded in September 2024, will be used to begin implementing PAW recommendations.
“What (the buildings) have in common is they are old and falling apart and require millions of dollars worth of investment if you want to bring them up to modern building codes, modern energy codes,” Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) said.
Michael McLean Jr., a consultant for the PAW program, asked attendees how to better utilize these resources for residents’ benefit. He said he plans to write a recommended action plan in September after around a year of public engagement.
Much of the discussion centered on the former Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Ave., an approximately 100,000-square-foot vacant building that formerly housed Council. In 2024, Council moved to its current 53,000-square-foot location at the Lorraine H. Morton City Hall at 909 Davis St. where it has a 15-year lease with the opportunity to leave after seven.
Second Ward resident Ray Friedman proposed relocating both Council and Police and Fire Headquarters to 2100 Ridge.
Other residents opposed having the police in the same building as Council, saying it might make community members uncomfortable and discourage civic engagement.
McLean said there was not enough space for both Police and Fire Headquarters and Council at 2100 Ridge. He said it was a priority to keep the police and fire departments in the same building for emergency coordination, and that it would be unsuitable to have the police in the same building as Council.
However, he said moving Council back to 2100 Ridge is still a distinct possibility.
“It’s certainly an idea that’s been expressed and presented to our group, and we’re discussing that,” McLean said. “We hear that at every meeting. So it has to be on our agenda to evaluate the cost of doing that, and the practicality of doing that is something we’re considering.”
Council originally left 2100 Ridge in April 2025 because the building needed significant renovations and was too large for the city’s needs.
Nieuwsma opposed moving Council back to its former building. In March 2025, Council voted to take the option to return city operations to the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center off the table.
“I would like to focus Michael’s and his team’s attention on what’s going to happen next, not second-guessing what’s already happening,” Nieuwsma said. “It was really important to me to make it clear that we are not moving back there. The future of that building is going to be something different.”
Resident Tina Paden said she was worried residents’ concerns about the properties would not be taken seriously by councilmembers. She said it was “inappropriate” for Nieuwsma to say Council would not return to 2100 Ridge during the community discussion.
“What he’s saying is there was no discussion about moving and now the Alderman is saying we’re not going back,” she said. “It’s like bypassing a discussion again.”
Friedman and Paden said Council had not been transparent about the move to 909 Davis St. and that they were worried the community would not be included in future decisions about the property.
In March 2024, the state’s attorney general ruled that Council had violated the Open Meetings Act when it authorized an exclusive agreement with the real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Midwest, making the firm the city’s broker in its exit from 2100 Ridge.
“You were found guilty of not following the Open Meetings Act,” Friedman said. “You went to court and were found guilty. So that’s not a little thing. You’re leaving the residents out.”
The next PAW community meeting is scheduled for April 28.
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