Evanston had an eventful year in 2024, occasionally making national news. Here’s a recap of the bigger things that occurred.
Protests at Northwestern University
Waves of pro-Palestinian demonstrations erupted at colleges and universities across the country in the spring months of 2024 amid armed conflict between Israel and Hamas in the wake of an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack 2023, that killed more than 1,200 in Israel and subsequently saw 45,000 killed in Gaza, according to the Associated Press. Student protesters demanded their schools disclose and disinvest their alleged economic interest in the war.
In Evanston, hundreds of protestors descended upon Northwestern University’s Deering Meadow on April 25. Many brought tents, signs and Palestinian flags in defiance of the university’s policy change the same morning.
Not all of Northwestern’s students agreed with the protests.
Northwestern Hillel, the university’s Jewish center, said in a statement that the encampment was a “a disturbing and quickly escalating trend of antisemitic rhetoric and actions both nationally and on our own campus.”
The encampment would not last longer than five days when the university’s administration announced April 29 it had reached an agreement with students and faculty protesting the war.
The agreement, believed to be the first deal reached by a university and student protestors in the country, outlined pillars of free speech, investments and inclusivity both the university and students would follow. In the agreement, NU’s President Michael Schill agreed to reestablish the Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility and to include representation from students, faculty and staff.
Still, as a private institution, Northwestern does not have to provide detailed financial statements and has its money in index funds which can make it difficult to remove investments in a single company.
Schill, along with other university leaders, was grilled by the U.S. Congress House Committee on Education and the Workforce in May over the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. Congressional leaders criticized the university’s deal with its students.
Student groups defended Schill, calling the hearing a “Congressional mock-trial” and a “McCarthyist project,” referring to the political repression and blacklisting of people accused of Communist ties around the 1950s.
By the fall, much of the tension had simmered down. A Jewish student group assembled a Jewish Sukkah hut, or temporary wood structure, in support of the Palestinian cause on Deering Meadow in October, in defiance of the university’s display policy. The university removed the hut hours after it was assembled.
Reparations
Five years after the Evanston City Council approved its reparations ordinance, the topic of reparations came up frequently in 2024.
The reparations ordinance, funded by the city’s cannabis tax and real estate transfer tax on properties worth more than $1.5 million, was enacted to try to heal the damage done by the restrictive covenants that forbade the sale of certain homes to Black families and redlining, which restricted home loans to Evanston’s Black neighborhood, according to former City Council Member and current chair of the city’s Reparations Committee Robin Rue Simmons.
Since then, other towns across the country have approved or considered reparations. Several sent representatives to celebrate the Evanston ordinance’s five year anniversary in December.
In September, the reparations committee announced that over $5 million had been dispersed to Evanston residents who were victims of redlining and restrictive covenants, whether they lived through it directly or were descendants. Recipients had the option to receive a $25,000 cash payment and/or assistance with home improvement projects, mortgage assistance or a down payment for a home.
The implementation of the reparations program did not go without pushback. In May, a conservative nonprofit filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Evanston. Attorneys representing the six plaintiffs said they were discriminated against, claiming that they would have been eligible to receive reparations payments if they had been Black.
In the suit, attorneys representing the plaintiffs said the reparations program violates the 14th Amendment, which says all Americans are given equal protection under the law.
In response to the lawsuit, Rue Simmons said, “this lawsuit is not a surprise. We know the nation that we live in.”
In October, attorneys representing the city of Evanston filed to dismiss the lawsuit for a second time. Attorneys representing the city said the case should be dismissed because the suit’s plaintiffs do not live in Evanston, do not own property in Evanston and did not apply for reparations in a timely manner before the program’s 2021 deadline.
A federal judge will have to decide if the case will keep moving forward or not.
Ryan Field rebuild, temporary stadium
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss delivered the deciding vote on a split City Council in November 2023 to grant Northwestern University permission to demolish its 98-year-old Ryan Field on Central Street and to replace it with a new stadium that will also hold concerts. Much of the work to keep that moving forward continued in 2024.
Demolition began at Ryan Field in February and lasted until April.
Construction kicked up dust along the designated truck route — too much dust, according to residents concerned about environmental and health effects.
To reduce the dust’s impact, NU began to take steps to mitigate the reduce the dust spread, and offered free car washes to residents affected it.
The city’s Economic Development Committee approved using tax increment finance funds for businesses to receive up to $5,000 to improve their outer appearances, amidst concerns they were negatively impacted by the dust.
In April, the Evanston City Council approved NU’s application to repurpose Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, the university’s lakefront soccer field, for home football games. Stands were installed on the field and hosted home games for the Wildcats in the 2024 season, and are anticipated to do so again in 2025.
The Wildcats inaugurated the lakefront stadium on Aug. 31 in a 13-6 win over Miami University.
Former Chicago Tribune Sports and Culture Writer Shakeia Taylor wrote a column after attending the 12,000 seat stadium for its first game.
“The scene was picturesque — sailboats in the distance, shades of blue from the lake and the sky stretched as far as the eye could see, the sun beat down on fans as the occasional breeze brought in comfort. Some boats merely bobbed past, while others appeared to enjoy a floating tailgate.”
“Without the typical stadium walls, there was nothing to contain the sound. The only disruptions were cheering fans and the sounds of the band.”
The university released additional renderings in November of the proposed new Ryan Field, which is scheduled to open in 2026.
Evanston-Skokie School District 65
Evanston-Skokie School District 65 finished out the 2023-2024 school year on a rough note when its Board of Education made the controversial decision to close Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies in Evanston in 2026.
The decision was harshly criticized by parents whose students attend the only bilingual school in the district. Three public hearings were held for community members to give their input in the matter.
The controversy was only exacerbated after the school district’s administration suddenly, and with no previous warning, announced in October that seventh and eight grades at the school would no longer be taught after Nov. 15, effectively giving students and families a less than one-month notice.
In response to the announcement, parents organized a protest from Bessie Rhodes to a Board of Education meeting in Evanston on Oct. 28. Teachers also organized a protest outside of the meeting.
At the meeting, Superintendent Angel Turner publicly apologized for the district’s hasty decision that was made without parent input. She outlined four options for parents and students.
The district also started the school year with financial worries. The district’s financial consultant said because of rising costs due to transportation and special education, the district was entering its third consecutive year with a deficit of greater than $10 million.
“Status quo will lead the district into either financial or academic bankruptcy,” the consultant said. “Unless decisions are made that are bold and immediate, it is my assessment that the District is heading in that direction.”
Turner unveiled a five-point deficit reduction plan to cut $15 million in expenses each year. The budget cuts are estimated to result in further school closures, teacher layoffs, transportation budget cuts, restructuring payments towards the construction of Foster School and restructured payments to the district’s special education system.
In November, the board of education approved hiring a consultant to assist the district’s administration in its implementation of the deficit reduction plan.
Foster School, the school district’s planned K-5 school in Evanston’s historically Black Fifth Ward, is under construction. The district’s financial consultant asked the Board of Education to consider pausing construction at the school, which currently costs the district $3.2 million a year until 2042.
The Board of Education, however, rebuked that proposal.
Ahead of the Board of Education approving the deficit reduction plan in January 2025, the administration held three community meetings to get feedback from parents and community members asking them what was most important to them.
City Hall move
The city of Evanston has expressed interest in moving its operations from the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, to rented office space at 909 Davis Street, Evanston. The move is anticipated to be temporary, as the City Council approved in February a measure to keep its 15-year lease with the Davis Street space.
Biss told Pioneer Press that the Civic Center building has significant issues, including but not limited to security concerns because of its many entrances, HVAC issues and electrical issues.
“Even if this location (the Civic Center) is the long term home of city government, we’re gonna have to move out for a pretty major renovation,” Biss said.
Biss said the the city will move its offices in the coming weeks, and finish moving over to Davis Street by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
The anticipated cost to repair the Civic Center is estimated to be nearly $65 million, according to the city’s engineer, Lara Biggs. She said the cost was estimated by looking at the city’s most recent report published in November 2023 and updated to include inflation.
Biggs said the city is also looking at other options in Evanston, including renting 909 Davis Street, fixing the Civic Center, the Main Library, and renting or buying two other buildings in Evanston.
“Because the building has so many needs that are so expensive, it’s not actually clear that the cheapest option is staying,” Biss said. “It might be that the cheapest option is going somewhere else. And so, we’re going to take a serious look at all the options.”
Prior to the time the city acquired the building, it housed an all-girls Catholic school, Marywood Academy.
“It’s really built to be a school more than a city hall… it’s got way more square feet than we need… a lot of that’s tied up in really wide and kind of a bizarre building configuration,” Biss said. “There’s a feeling that maybe it could be put to better use in another way, while we’re housed somewhere else.”
Biss said the City Council is still asking for more details before it makes a decision for the future of city hall.