CSNA Sponsored Envision Evanston 2045 Session May 7 at 7:30 PM 2715 Hurd

 

 

You are specially invited to an early-stage planning session for what may lead to a new Comprehensive Plan for Evanston. This is your last opportunity to chime in for what has been called Phase I:

Envision Evanston 2045 Input Session
Tuesday, May 7
7:30 pm
2715 Hurd Ave. (the former church)

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Modern Ruin

Front arches and press box of former Dyche Stadium at Ryan Field

Above:  As of April 26, 2024, the former arched entryway, with the press box added in 1997 defying gravity, was all that remained of the former century-old Northwestern University football stadium on Central Street.

CSNA Spring Social Wed. April 24

Winter in Chicagoland can be long and hard, as can some public debates. CSNA, with activities such as our annual musical entry in the 4th of July Parade, has always been about far more than City business, and we want to thank you for staying involved, and offer past, present, and potential future members a break from it all! 

Update: Evanston Comprehensive Plan for 2024-2045

Many if not most cities with zoning, preservation, and similar codes also have periodic longer-range plans that serve as both aspirational documents and as touchstones to guide and evaluate development, including requests for variance from code. Evanston’s last comprehensive plan adopted in 2000 was the work of a citizen committee chaired by an Evanston architect and including many with planning and community involvement.

Update: Harley Clarke

The saga of the magnificent Harley Clarke house and grounds, going back to the end of the Evanston Art Center’s tenancy, is almost as long and sad as that of the Civic Center, with a similar subplot of neglect of a public asset, and non-transparency at key moments. But maybe that’s changing.

Update: City Move from the Civic Center

In a 2007 referendum, Evanstonians by a 6:1 landslide voted to rehab the current historic Lorraine Morton Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Ave. (right, seen in 2007) and keep City government there. Sadly, City government over the next 17 years never respected that mandate with a maintenance or restoration plan for the building.

Update on the NU Stadium: Lawsuit Proceeds in Part

The university’s demolition of its historic 1920s football stadium is nearly complete. NU plans to build a temporary facility on the lakefill for, at minimum, football games, which the City will likely permit. Meanwhile, litigation by stadium neighbors challenges the legality of the Council rezoning. At least one count of the lawsuit will move toward trial, although the court on April 19 dismissed some procedural counts, finding that five votes of the 10-person Council were sufficient to pass the zoning amendment.

Special Joint Ward Planning Meeting Tue., April 2

Sixth Ward Councilmember Tom Suffredin and Seventh Ward Councilmember Eleanor Revelle are co-hosting a Special Topic Joint Ward Meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 2, at 7 p.m.

The Assault on Democracy in the Stadium Project Process

“You may ask yourself, ‘well, how did I get here?’ ”
     — Talking Heads, Once in a Lifetime

Evanston Roundtable reporter Duncan Agnew recently took a good shot at recapping how the proposal for rezoning the athletic “U2” district encompassing Northwestern University’s football stadium, basketball arena, and baseball field advanced to a potential vote at Evanston City Council. As good as Mr. Agnew’s history is, there is more to the story. We got "here" via an ongoing antidemocratic trend in Evanston that has picked up steam and become more obvious and alarming over time.

Forums:

Local Lawyers Say Six Votes Needed for Rezoning

Nearly three dozen Evanston lawyers, at last count, have signed on to an open letter to Mayor Biss and the other members of the Council on an issue that that affects the legitimacy of the Ryan Field project and rezoning up for consideration at a special meeting tonight. Much public discussion has assumed that Mayor Biss can be a tiebreaking 5th vote if the other sitting Councilmembers tie 4-4. These local legal minds think otherwise, and that Evanston law requires six votes.

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