Aldermen Approve Amended Harley Clarke Demolition Agreement

EVANSTON, IL — The Evanston City Council voted Monday to sign on to a deal with a group of residents who have offered a cash donation to demolish a lakefront landmark. By a vote of 5-3, aldermen agreed to a memorandum of understanding with a group called Evanston Lighthouse Dunes to try to tear down the Harley Clarke mansion in exchange for a limited-time offer of $400,000. The deal was approved following the inclusion of amendments adding a commitment to an post-demolition $100,000 payment and a promise to cover any potential cost overruns.

Mayor Pro Tem and 1st Ward Ald. Judy Fiske, 2nd Ward Ald. Peter Braithwaite, 5th Ward Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, 8th Ward Ald. Ann Rainey and 9th Ward Ald. Cicely Fleming voted in favor of authorizing City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz to enter into the deal. Mayor Steve Hagerty and Ald. Don Wilson, 4th Ward, were absent. The same five aldermen voted in April to cut off lease negotiations with a nonprofit group that had proposed using private money to restore the mansion but were unable to win the support of a majority of aldermen.

The legally binding funding agreement between the city, five citizens and a nonprofit foundation was first unveiled Thursday. It provides for a $400,000 donation once city staff receive permission to demolish the building, a process that begins with the Evanston Preservation Commission.

The mansion wound up as city property in 1965 when the city convinced a fraternity to part ways with it. At the time, the City Council had bought up a number of lakefront homes, including a Daniel Burham design, and razed them in order to expand the parkland around Evanston's iconic lighthouse, Fiske noted. Supporters of demolition feel aldermen are now finally following through with that commitment. Occupied by the Evanston Arts Center during decades of deferred maintenance, the city has gone more than six years without agreeing on a plan for the future of the site.

Demolition backer and local philanthropist Chuck Lewis of the Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation, the only organization to be a signatory to the memorandum of understanding, said the city was confronting far more pressing challenges than the future of the landmarked mansion.

"I think the City Council did its job," Lewis said. "It's time for the City Council to move beyond what is a frivolous matter, relative to the other major issues in the city. It's actually embarrassing."

Following two hours of public comment during which more than 50 people spoke against taking the money and about a half dozen of the 41 listed Lighthouse Dunes donors defended the demolition plan, aldermen tacked on a pair of amendments to the funding agreement.

The first amendment came in response to a pledge from representatives of the Lighthouse Dunes group to provide an additional $100,000 toward the restoration of the site within 30 days of the completion of the demolition. Seeking to put the promise in writing, 9th Ward Ald. Cicely Fleming introduced an amendment incorporating it into the memorandum, which was approved by the same 5-3 above vote that would later approve the agreement.

Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, 5th Ward, added another amendment intended to avoid leaving taxpayers on hook.

"I can't support any cost to the city for this proposal," Rue Simmons said. Her proposal to hold the citizen's group responsible for any additional costs was approved unanimously.

"I move to amend that the Dunes group organization pays the full cost of the project," Rue Simmons said. "Period. That it's no cost to the city. That was the whole thing of this proposal and I don't want to get too far away from that."

However, representatives of the Lighthouse Dunes group said they did not intend to make an open-ended commitment, so it was not immediately clear when or if the group would sign on to the funding agreement as amended. According to the terms of the agreement, the initial $400,000 is available only if the city gains approval for demolition of the landmark within 24 months from the date the agreement is signed.

"We're not prepared to offer a blank check," said Nicole Kustok, one of signatories on behalf of the group, who noted prior estimates have suggested costs of demolition could come in lower that what's already been pledged. "We came forward with a solution...We're individual citizens signing an agreement with the city."

Braithwaite had tried unsuccessfully twice to call for a vote on the unamended memorandum before first Fleming and then Rue Simmons could introduce their amendments, saying the specific figures could be worked out later.

"If we do introduce it, because it still takes us down the path of demolition, then we should we should do it with accurate numbers," Braithwaite said.

Other aldermen who supported the funding agreement acknowledged its arithmetic was inexact.

"In some ways, it's hard for everybody to weigh in on something when we're not quite sure what the numbers are," said Fiske. "I feel a little bit uncomfortable about it because...the numbers could come in a lot lower." Under the terms of the agreement, any leftover money stays with the city.

Rainey suggested there would be numerous good bidders for the job. She also suggested allowing local company Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse to scavenge the interior of the building before it's torn down.

"I think it's fun to think that maybe this thing's all gonna blow up for those of you that don't want this building demolished, I think we have a responsibility to go out and get the real bids," Rainey said. "I think we're probably going to get a lot of really good bids because not a lot of people are demolishing things right now. Because, don't forget, nobody's allowed to build anything in Evanston anymore so nobody's knocking things down to build."

The preservation commission process is expected to last from six to 12 months and is likely to return the issue to the City Council following a potential non-binding advisory referendum on the November ballot.

Opponents of demolition, the recently formed Save Harley Clarke group, claim to have collected more than 3,200 signatures of Evanston voters in support of placing an as-yet unspecified question about the future of the Harley Clarke mansion before voters.

"If people want to have a real referendum on this issue, the referendum should ask the question of whether the taxpayers should pay to restore this house," Lewis said.

Mayor Steve Hagerty, who was vacationing during the meeting, did not respond to a request for comment ahead of the vote.

Related:

• Harley Clarke Demolition Donation Deal Comes Before Council
• Council Approves Harley Clarke Demolition Negotiations
• City Council To Consider Offer To Demolish Harley Clarke Mansion
• Alderman Reject Lease Of Harley Clarke Mansion To Nonprofit Group
• Harley Clarke Lease To Evanston Lakehouse & Gardens Set For Vote
• Lakehouse Plan Approved By Evanston City Council