Evanston Action Coalition

07/31/2026

Renovating 2100 Ridge deserves a serious look.

EAC has published a 2025 rough estimate from Redmond Construction placing a partial renovation of the former Civic Center at approximately $20–25 million. The estimate includes HVAC, plumbing, electrical and ADA upgrades, along with improvements to major interior areas.

Redmond also concluded that most or all City operations could fit within roughly three-quarters of the building—potentially leaving an entire floor for another civic, nonprofit or revenue-producing use.

This is a preliminary estimate, not a final construction bid. But it is concrete evidence that renovation is a credible option and should be fairly compared with continued leasing, demolition, new construction and the permanent loss of this publicly owned site.

Read the estimate and EAC’s analysis via the link. Then support EAC’s proposal, A Complete Civic Campus at 2100 Ridge, on Evanston PAW.

A written estimate from Redmond Construction supports treating renovation of Evanston’s former Civic Center as a serious option. The firm estimated a partial modernization at $20–25 million and found that most or all City operations could fit within roughly three-quarters of the building.

07/08/2026

We have momentum on Evanston PAW, and voting could close at any time.

If you support keeping the Civic Center site publicly owned, preserving the historic Marywood Academy building, improving Ingraham Park, and creating a true Civic Campus for city services, public safety, open space, and community use, please take a moment to vote for EAC’s idea and leave a supportive comment.

Every vote and constructive comment helps show that Evanston residents want this land kept public and used for the public good.

Link to PAW via our website below:

EAC’s vision for a renewed 2100 Ridge Civic Campus: restore Marywood Academy, modernize public safety, and protect Ingraham Park.

07/06/2026

What should Evanston do with 2100 Ridge?

Evanston is committed to a 15-year office lease projected to cost more than $36 million at 909 Davis Street, excluding separately paid energy costs, even as the City considers the long-term future of the publicly owned Civic Center site.

Evanston Action Coalition has shared a vision for keeping this historic, publicly owned site civic: restoring Marywood Academy as a home for public services and community use; building modern Police/Fire facilities on the broader campus; protecting Ingraham Park; and creating welcoming space for meetings, performances, and everyday public life.

This conversation is not happening in a vacuum. PAW is connected to the City’s broader asset-management and housing agenda. Evanston’s FY24 PRO Housing application described PAW as an effort to identify three underutilized City assets for housing development, including soon-to-be-vacant buildings such as the Civic Center, with an initial estimate of up to 150 affordable housing units across the initiative. The application did not assign those units specifically to 2100 Ridge. City staff has since said housing is not predetermined and that PAW is intended to consider housing, other uses, and whether each site should be used for housing at all.

At the same time, housing-oriented redevelopment is already being advanced through the PAW process, including a developer-submitted concept for the Civic Center site. That makes it especially important that residents also see and consider a serious public-use alternative before any irreversible decision is made.

Our concept is not a final site plan. It is an illustrative concept intended to ensure that Evanston weighs the long-term public value of retaining 2100 Ridge for civic services, modern public safety, community space, and protected parkland—not simply private redevelopment.

Read the proposal and view the concept renderings:
www.evanstonaction.com/civiccampus

The official PAW page says the City is pursuing a non-city use or adaptive reuse of 2100 Ridge and describes the broader process as including development/financial analyses and an eventual request for aligned development partners.

EAC’s vision for a renewed 2100 Ridge Civic Campus: restore Marywood Academy, modernize public safety, and protect Ingraham Park.

07/04/2026

Happy Fourth of July from Evanston Action Coalition. 🇺🇸

As America marks 250 years of independence, we celebrate the enduring principles of liberty, self-government, and engaged citizenship—and the neighbors who put those ideals into practice close to home.

Wishing Evanston a safe, meaningful, and joyful Independence Day.

06/04/2026

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned without passing SB 640, SB 643, or SB 635. This is a significant outcome for residents, municipalities, civic organizations, and local officials across Illinois who raised serious concerns about rushed statewide zoning preemption.

Evanston Action Coalition opposed both the original BUILD package and the late-session shell bill revival of major zoning preemption proposals because these bills would have shifted major land-use decisions away from municipalities and reduced local accountability.

Housing affordability matters. So do transparency, infrastructure, preservation, public review, and local self-government.

Read the full statement in our newsroom:

Evanston Action Coalition statement after SB 640, SB 643, and SB 635 failed to pass before adjournment, urging transparency, local accountability, and no rushed zoning preemption.

05/30/2026

Evanston Action Coalition has filed formal opposition to SB 635.

On May 29, EAC submitted an opponent witness slip and written statement to the Illinois Senate Executive Committee opposing SB 635, a bill that would create a special statewide by-right approval pathway for dense multifamily and mixed-use development on faith-based property.

Faith-based organizations can be important partners in addressing housing needs. But SB 635 goes much further by limiting local zoning authority, reducing public review, and overriding local decision-making on land-use questions that affect infrastructure, stormwater, traffic, public safety, historic resources, and the built environment.

Illinois can support housing affordability without broadly preempting municipal zoning authority or removing residents, elected officials, plan commissions, preservation bodies, and local staff from meaningful review.

Read the full statement in our newsroom:

Evanston Action Coalition filed an opponent witness slip and written statement opposing SB 635, a statewide faith-based land development bill that would limit local zoning authority, reduce public review, and preempt municipal decision-making.

05/30/2026

Evanston Action Coalition has released a statement on the adoption of Housing4All.

We supported important amendments that added needed guardrails to the plan — including language making clear that Housing4All does not itself approve zoning text amendments, zoning map changes, overlay districts, or increases in by-right development intensity.

We thank Ald. Clare Kelly and Ald. Parielle Davis for proposing important amendments and for opposing final adoption when the plan remained too broad and unresolved.

Nonetheless, while those amendments matter, they do not resolve our fundamental concerns. Housing4All continues to point Evanston toward broad zoning changes, expanded by-right development intensity, and land-use deregulation before the City has completed baseline capacity analysis, preservation review, geographic targeting, or neighborhood-level impact review.

Evanston’s historic built environment, lower-intensity single and two-family residential areas (R1, R2, and R3), naturally occurring affordable housing, tree-lined blocks, older homes, two-flats, courtyard buildings, coach houses, and small-scale multifamily buildings are not obstacles to housing policy. They are part of the city’s housing infrastructure, environmental sustainability, architectural inheritance, and civic identity.

The zoning debate is not over. Future proposals must stand on their own merits, with full public process, clear affordability objectives, preservation review, and final accountability resting with the elected City Council.

Read the full statement in our newsroom.

Evanston Action Coalition supported important Housing4All amendments but opposed final adoption, citing concerns about broad zoning changes, expanded by-right development intensity, lower-intensity residential areas, historic preservation, and insufficient baseline analysis before future land-use ch

05/29/2026

URGENT: BUILD is back — and the clock is running out.

The BUILD housing package has resurfaced in Springfield through new late-session bills, and the Illinois Senate is scheduled to adjourn May 31.

According to the Illinois Municipal League, these bills were filed Friday and received a Tuesday afternoon hearing with little notice. The hearing ran from after 4 PM until after 8 PM and covered multiple bills.

Now the fight moves to the Senate floor.

Illinoisans should act tonight:

Tell your State Senator to vote NO on SB640, SB643, and SB635.

These bills would eviscerate local authority over zoning, permitting, inspections, land-use review, and by-right development approvals.

SB640 — statewide middle-housing zoning mandates for 6-units on R1 single-family parcels
SB643 — third-party inspections and review mandates
SB635 — by-right multi-unit development pathway for "faith-based land"

This is not just about one community. It is about whether local residents, elected councils, and municipal governments retain meaningful authority over land-use decisions.

Write your senator now: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urgent-tell-senators-no-on-sb640-sb643-and-sb635/

Then share this post with neighbors, friends, civic groups, and anyone concerned about home rule and local accountability.

The final days of session are here. Please act tonight.

BUILD is back in Springfield — this time through late-session shell bills. The original BUILD bills appeared stalled, but key pieces of the package have now resurfaced in SB640, SB643, and SB635. These bills could move quickly in the Illinois Senate before adjournment. Even if you contacted legisl...

05/28/2026

URGENT: Tell Illinois Senators NO on SB640, SB643, and SB635

BUILD is back in Springfield — this time through late-session shell bills that could move quickly before adjournment.

These bills would limit local authority over zoning, permitting, inspections, land-use review, and home rule decision-making.

SB640 would impose statewide middle-housing mandates and turn most single-family lots into 4-to-6-unit entitlement sites by state mandate.

SB643 would interfere with local building-plan review and inspections by imposing statewide timelines and allowing third-party reviewers when municipalities miss deadlines.

SB635 would create a special by-right development pathway for qualifying faith-based land.

Even if you contacted legislators about BUILD before, please act again. The bill numbers have changed, and the threat is now in the Senate.

Tell your Illinois State Senator to vote NO on SB640, SB643, and SB635.

Take action here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urgent-tell-senators-no-on-sb640-sb643-and-sb635?

BUILD is back in Springfield — this time through late-session shell bills. The original BUILD bills appeared stalled, but key pieces of the package have now resurfaced in SB640, SB643, and SB635. These bills could move quickly in the Illinois Senate before adjournment. Even if you contacted legisl...

05/11/2026

City Council votes tonight on Housing4All and proposed amendments.

Evanston can support housing action while also requiring anti-displacement protections, public process, Council oversight, and data-driven review before major zoning changes.

If you have not already done so, please take a moment before tonight’s meeting to ask Council to support responsible Housing4All amendments.

Use our link below –

This Monday, Evanston City Council will consider proposed amendments to Housing4All These amendments would strengthen the plan by adding clear safeguards: anti-displacement protections, preservation of existing affordable housing, public reporting, targeted implementation, and Council oversight befo...