Grocery Store Promised

Council OKs 1890 Maple High-Rise

By Bill Smith

Promises from developer Robert King to seek a grocery tenant for ground-floor retail space enabled him to win enough votes for City Council to approve his proposed 14-story mixed-use rental apartment building at 1890 Maple Ave.

The developer showed aldermen a letter of intent from the Trader Joe's chain to take the space, and agreed, if that deal falls through, to aggressively pursue other grocery operators for the site.

With that, Alderman Cheryl Wollin, 1st Ward, announced she had switched her position to support the plan, and the project, which had been tabled for months for the lack of a sixth supporting vote, was approved, despite objections from opponents that they had been blindsided by the switch.

Ald. Wollin said that she realizes the grocery is not a certainty. But she said if one does materialize, it would be a great advantage to many downtown residents who lack cars.

Alderman Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, said she had serious doubts about the viability of the site for a grocery, given its constrained urban space and parking atypical for a supermarket.

Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, said she had learned during her two-year campaign to bring a grocery to the former Osco drug store site at Asbury Avenue and Oakton Street that many non-chain grocers are interested in coming to Evanston.

Ald. Rainey and other City officials have been frustrated by Trader Joe's' previous rejection of Evanston sites, including the former Osco store, and she suggested she is not very confident that Trader Joe's will actually end up being the grocery tenant at 1890 Maple.

She praised Ald. Wollin and Alderman Delores Holmes, 5th Ward, for working out the grocery agreement with the developer.

Of Ald. Wollin, she said, "Her leadership on this showed a lot of courage. It's not always easy to change your mind. I'm very impressed with her work on this."

Ald. Holmes said, "We're not banking on Trader Joe's, but we need a grocery store in the area. This is right across the street from my ward, and it's something we need."

Alderman Wynne and Alderman Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, said they believe the project is too large for the site and that the Council had erred in approving the 18-story 1881 Oak Ave. condo tower adjacent to it.

Ald. Anjana Hansen, 9th Ward, said she doubted a grocery would ultimately locate on the site, that parking would be a huge issue, and that she still believed a vote on the project should wait until after the downtown planning process is complete.

Alderman Elizabeth Tisdahl, 7th Ward, said she supports the project because the City needs additional rental housing to replace units lost to condo conversion.

Alderman Steve Bernstein, 4th Ward, said he favored the project without the grocery plan and that the grocery would be a good amenity for the community.

While the amended agreement with the developer calls for efforts to bring a grocery store to the site; it also contains a 10-year ban on locating a convenience store on the premises

One Vigil for Peace, One for Equal Justice

On Sept. 20, the eve of International Day of Peace, the North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice held a peace vigil at Fountain Square. This year, the International Day of Peace coincided with the Jewish High Holiday Yom Kippur and with the month-long Muslim observation of Ramadan.

At Fountain Square, signs and puppets proclaimed the need for peace, and, as often occurs at such vigils in Evanston, drivers of passing automobiles honked their horns in support.

"Now more than ever is peace needed in the world," said Jevoid Simmons, one of the founders of NSCPJ. There were readings and prayers of the Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Friends (also called Quaker) faiths: from Isaiah (Old Testament of the Bible), "And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation - neither shall they learn war any more"; Native American, "Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect and to be kind to each other ... Let us learn to share all good things that you [Great Spirit] provide for us on this earth"; Yehuda Amichai, "I, may I rest in peace. ... I don't want to fulfill my parents' prophecy that life is war. I want peace with all my body and all my soul"; Muslim prayer, "Praise be to the Lord of the universe, who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other"; the peace prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. ..."; and a Buddhist prayer: "May every creature abound in well-being and peace. ... within yourself foster a limitless concern for every living creature."

Led by folk singers Greg Vaughn and Kristin Lems and artist Peggy Lipschultz, the group sang songs of peace.

Solidarity With the Jena 6

On Sept. 20 at BooCoo Community Center, Church Street and Dodge Avenue, about three dozen community members held a candlelight vigil to show solidarity with the Jena 6 - six black high school students in Jena, La., who were originally charged with attempted murder for allegedly beating a white student unconscious. The student was treated and released from a hospital after a few hours. Racial tensions in Jena have been high since last year, when three nooses appeared in a tree at the local high school. After a number of interracial fights, white students were treated more leniently than were black students. Many feel the attempted murder charges against the six youth (the "Jena 6") were excessive and that the black students were denied equal justice.

Similar vigils were held across the country that same evening, Sept. 20. Two websites, www.freethejena6.org and www.colorofchange.org, have been established to help the young men.

Gabrielle Jean-Paul Walker organized the Evanston vigil and summarized some of the racial incidents that had occurred in Jena. Some spoke about the continuing presence of racism in this country and differences in treatment in the justice system and other aspects of society. Ms. Jean-Paul Walker said, "We have to change. I want to be part of that change." Looking at the larger historical context, another speaker said, "We've got to educate our children about civil rights. ... We must acknowledge the problem [of racism.]"

Some Like It Tall

By Bill Smith

Members of the City's Plan Commission appear divided in their views about the 49-story tower proposed for the Fountain Square block as they prepare for their third hearing on the project. Some have been sharply critical of the project.

Commissioner Colleen Burrus said the base of the new building "looks like a fortress, a big parking garage with retail on the bottom. It's not welcoming." By contrast, she said, the Sherman Plaza project, built across the street by the same developers, "encourages people to walk" on its side of the street.

And Commissioner Albert Hunter suggested the base should be redesigned to "open up" the Sherman Avenue and Church Street corner, providing a setback similar to that of the new Barnes & Noble storefront in Sherman Plaza. But Commissioner David Galloway said a curved or angled corner on the proposed building "would be quite trite and not an effective urban design."

He called the plan presented by developers Tim Anderson and James Klutznick "architecturally appropriate" and "quite well done," saying it would give pedestrians a better view of the retail space.

He praised the treatment of the garage area above the retail floors saying that, like the much older Orrington Hotel garage in the next block north on Sherman Avenue, it "in effect looks like a normal building."

But Commissioner Robin Schuldenfrei said the garage "gives the building a fortress-like look" and asked whether the developers could put the parking underground - an idea the developers rejected as too expensive.

Commission Chairman James Woods praised revisions the developers have made to their original designs and suggested further revisions to "get more architectural detail" into the east side of the building's base.

Later, after a lengthy discussion led by Mr. Galloway of possible refinements to the architectural detailing of the building's tower, Ms. Burrus said, "We're losing site of the overall issue. Does this building - whether a fabulous design or not - belong in downtown Evanston?"

Commissioners Johanna Nyden and Stuart Opdycke asked questions during the session but gave little indication of their overall views about the plan.

Residents opposed to the tower who spoke at the hearing said it would be too tall, that the developers are not offering sufficient public benefits and that it would displace established retail businesses and professional offices.

Residents supporting the project said it would help attract more young professionals to live downtown, provide new customers for businesses and strengthen the City's economic base.
The Plan Commission will continue its hearing on the tower project at 7 p.m. on Oct. 10.

New Consultant, Few New Ideas for Civic Center

By Bill Smith

On Sept. 25, architect Carol Ross Barney present aldermen with several options to address severe Civic Center maintenance issues. While many of the options had been heard in some form before, the idea of building a new City hall at police headquarters appeared to be a new one.

Ms. Ross Barney presented drawings illustrating four main approaches.

1. Rehab
The City, she said, could rehab the existing building, adding a mostly-underground new parking structure for 350 cars on its west side. That would let the City sell a 1.3 acre section of the existing open parking lot for residential development to fund part of the rehab cost. It would also allow the City to keep the 2.8-acre Ingraham Park, which the Council has pledged not to sell.

2. Rehab and expand
This option would rehabilitate the existing building and add a new north wing. That would raise the building's total square footage from 112,000 to 127,000 square feet. A report last year by Skidmore Owings and Merrill concluded that the City needs between 116,000 and 134,000 square feet of space to operate efficiently.

3. Build new on same site
Ms. Ross Barney suggested the City could avoid the large expense of relocating City offices during construction by building a new civic center on the parkland behind the existing building and then demolishing the existing building and turning that area into a new park fronting on Ridge Avenue.

4. Build new on new site
She suggested new sites could include the existing police station at Lake Street and Elmwood Avenue or the City parking lot in the 1700 block of Chicago Avenue, just north of the Woman's Club of Evanston and east of the public library.

She said buildings on those sites would need to be about 15 stories tall to provide the needed office space. Those sites, she said, could provide convenient parking for only customers transacting business with the City during the day. Because of space constraints, she said, City employees and larger groups of citizens attending evening meetings would need to park in nearby City garages.

Ms. Ross Barney's firm is about half-way through a two-month consulting contract with the City to develop optimal design solutions for resolving the lingering Civic Center crisis.

John Kennedy, leader of the Friends of the Civic Center group that has fought for preservation and renovation of the existing building, noted that none of the discussion Tuesday focused on the cost of the various options. He said the City, with its looming pension funding crisis, needs to focus on the least expensive alternative, which his group contends would be rehabbing the existing building.

Buck Building for Sale

By Bill Smith

City officials said at the Sept. 26 Economic Development Committee meeting that the decision by the John Buck Co. to put its 283-unit Park Evanston rental apartment tower up for sale is likely to lead to a significant increase in tax revenue for the City.

Crain's Chicago Business, which first reported that the property is on the market, and said it is expected to sell for about $100 million.

The officials say they believe the building's current tax assessment is substantially below what it would be reset at if the sale goes through at the projected price.

But Assistant City Manager Judy Aiello said she hopes the Buck Company continues to manage the building after the sale. "Having locally-owned management is of benefit to us," she said.

The 24-story apartment building at 1630 Chicago Ave. and the adjacent retail space anchored by a Whole Foods Market are being marketed by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. The building, completed 10 years ago, reportedly is 99-percent leased with rents topping out at over $3,600 for a three-bedroom unit.

Also at the EDC meeting, Planning Director Dennis Marino reported that permits were issued earlier in the week for construction of the Winthop Club condo project at 1567 Maple Ave. and that The Eastwood, a condo development at the former Evanston Theater site on Central Street, had gone through final site plan review that day.

Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, said developers of the Bristol Project on Howard Street report strong interest from prospective tenants in that building. Construction there reached the 16th floor last week, just one story away from topping out the project, she said.

"We have this group of nattering nabobs of negativism in this town," Ald. Rainey said, "who say the world is coming to an end, everything is horrible, nothing is good and the market is going to kill us all." News about the continued strength of the market here should prove claims like that wrong, she added.

Methodist Pension Board to Leave Evanston for Glenview

By Bill Smith

A long-time Evanston institution, the Methodist Pension Board, plans to leave the City for a new headquarters site in Glenview.

Evanston City Manager Julia Carroll announced at last week's Civic Center Committee meeting that she has received notification from the board that it has dropped plans to rebuild its existing headquarters building on the southwest corner of Ridge Avenue and Davis Street.

She said the group, formally known as the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church, has acquired a 25-acre parcel in Glenview as its new headquarters.

The move means a loss of an estimated 300 jobs in the City.

Ms. Carroll said the church group had been unable to find a solution to provide all the parking it wanted to have as part of the redevelopment project in Evanston.

Eleven months ago architects for the board unveiled plans for the proposed new headquarters building in Evanston, but the proposal never reached the City's Plan Commission for review.

The project originally was scheduled to be heard by the commission in February, but after at least two postponements was withdrawn by the board early this summer.

At the Civic Center Committee meeting last week, aldermen asked Ms. Carroll to explore with pension board officials whether they would be interested in negotiating a sale of the property to the City as a possible site for a new Civic Center.

The Methodist group also owns the former Rotary International building across the street, on the northwest corner of Ridge Avenue and Davis Street, and both buildings are expected to go on the market as a result of the board's planned move to Glenview.

The board has gradually reduced its employee count in recent years as the number of clergy and other church workers has decreased.

In a news release issued the next day, Colette Nies, the pension board's communication manager, said the Glenview site fronts on Chestnut Avenue and is bordered by the Metra rail tracks on the west and the Tall Trees residential development on the east.

Proximity to mass transportation and access to restaurants and other amenities were important considerations in selecting the site, Ms. Nies said, along with the desire for a natural setting conducive to healthy living.

She said the property is currently under contract and that the board hopes to begin construction in 2008 after receiving regulatory approvals, with occupancy expected about 18 months later.

A Burrowing Problem: Rats in Evanston

By Mary Helt Gavin

Holey garbage carts, Batman! Evanston's got rats.

Using holes in garbage carts, rats have an almost continual food source. They typically enter the cart from holes lower down on the cart, rather than using the convenient squirrel-holes near the tops of many older carts.

Staff members of the City's Department of Health and Human Services have received far more complaints about rats this year "than for any of the past years for which we have records," said director Jay Terry.

The idea of rats sends a chill through most people, and Mr. Terry emphasized that this information is meant to educate, not to panic, the Evanston public.

In a Sept. 19 memo to City Manager Julia Carroll, Mr. Terry noted that rats pose a public health problem and said his department focuses on enforcement of the City's property standards and education about how to address the problem.

The issues are harborage, food sources and baiting, he said.

Rats live where they can - under foundations and in underground burrows, heavy vegetation, woodpiles and abandoned buildings. "Evanston also has three railroad rights-of-way with vegetation rats can hide in - the Metra, the CTA and the old Mayfair," Mr. Terry said, adding, "They're pretty resourceful."

Rats are nocturnal, typically seen at dusk or dawn, said Mr. Terry. "Most of our reports come from people seeing them traversing an alley."

Garbage is a main source of food for rats, and garbage cans with holes allow them access to a never-ending buffet. "Older garbage carts have provided an abundant food source for rats and, without new garbage carts, all of the baiting in the world will not have much of an impact on neighborhood infestations," said Mr. Terry.

Rats are not as agile as squirrels, he said, so they climb into garbage carts through holes in the bottom rather than the top.

Mr. Terry said the City identifies "every burrow, vegetation, wood pile or building" contributing to the problem. The City is responsible for any public property where rats have been sighted, removing the food source or harborage and baiting the area. City staff also will work with private property owners to identify pest-control firms.

When larger buildings are being demolished, the City works with the demolition companies to ensure that they have a rat plan, said Mr. Terry.

"We ensure that all private pest-control firms working in a particular neighborhood are using the same methods and are not counter-productive," he said.

Ideally, every garbage cart in Evanston that has a hole in it would be replaced, but the City has run out of them. At the Sept. 24 City Council meeting, aldermen approved the purchase of 900 additional carts.

He encourages anyone who sees a rat to call the Department of Health and Human Services, 847-866-2947, giving as much detail as possible.

From the website of the
City of Overland Park, Kansas
RAT FACTS

• There are an estimated 200 million rats in the United States - nearly one rat for every person!

• A rat can gain entrance through any hole larger than a half-inch in diameter.

• A rat can gnaw through wood, plaster, plastic, lead pipe, aluminum, cinder block, porous concrete, adobe brick, metal conduit, soft rubber, cardboard, paper and cloth materials.

• When a rat gnaws or chews, it can exert a force of approximately 24,000 pounds per square inch.

• A rat can fall 50 feet without serious injury.

• A rat can jump 3 feet vertically and 4 feet horizontally from a flat surface and reach upward 18 inches.

• Rats can climb bricks, trees, vines, horizontal or vertical wires or other rough exteriors that provide footholds.

• Rats can tread water for three days and can swim in open water up to one-half mile, against swift currents, through floor drains and toilet bowl traps.

• Rats are colorblind and can only see for several feet, but their senses of smell, taste, hearing, and touch are acute.

• One pair of rats could have 15,000 descendants in a year.