Ahead Of Land Use Hearing, Residents Rally Against Ryan Field Rezoning

EVANSTON, IL — The contentious debate continues over Northwestern University's proposed redevelopment of Ryan Field in Evanston, ahead of Wednesday's resumption of the Land Use Commission's hearing on the project.

On Tuesday, dozens of demonstrators marched to the home of the university's president and to the Civic Center, while the Evanston Chamber of Commerce voiced its support for the project, which includes a planned development and a zoning code amendment.

Protestors opposed to Northwestern's plan to rebuild its football stadium and hold concerts there gathered at Lighthouse Beach before heading down Central Street to Northwestern University President Michael Schill's house.

Accompanied by a caravan of cars, they marched down Sheridan Road and into City Council chambers, where they entered and interrupted a police department presentation with chants of, "Hey City Council, what do you say? Support our community's needs today," and "Hey, hey, ho, ho, commercial zoning has got to go."

After the demonstrators ignored Mayor Daniel Biss's requests to put down their signs and stop chanting, Biss asked them to leave.

The protest was organized by the Northwestern Accountability Alliance, a coalition of community groups formed in May to counter what it described as an "influence campaign" from Northwestern officials.

The alliance is composed of the Community Alliance for Better Government, Fossil Free Northwestern, the Most Livable City Association, Northwestern University Graduate Workers and Students Organizing for Labor Rights.

If the Evanston City Council approves it, the university's proposal calls for the demolition of the existing 47,000-seat Ryan Field structure and its replacement with a new stadium with 28,500 seats.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Northwestern football has had the lowest attendance in the Big Ten Conference, where it is the only private university. Its average attendance was less than 29,000 last year.

Much of the new stadium's estimated $800 million price tag will be funded by a $480 million contribution from billionaire Pat Ryan. But representatives of Northwestern, which has a $14.1 billion endowment and is exempt from paying property tax on its extensive land holdings in Evanston, contend the school will not be able to finance the project unless Evanston's elected officials agree to rezone the area for commercial use.

Initially, they argued there needed to be 12 concerts a year, then reduced the request to 10, and have subsequently requested permission for six concerts a year, with Chief Operating Officer Luke Figora earlier this month telling land use commissioners the university needed to "service a little bit of debt on the stadium."

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Opponents of the plan have described it as the commercialization of a residential neighborhood and have pointed to apparent hypocrisy from Northwestern Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris, wh0 lobbied against a renovation of a century-old landmark hotel about a mile away from his $24 million Martha's Vineyard home.

When asked about it by the Wall Street Journal, Barris said it was a "personal circumstance" and "distinctly dissimilar to Northwestern's proposal."

Some of the signs carried at Tuesday's protest included a political cartoon designed by Evanston artist Diane Thodos, which shows a steamrolled labeled "NU Zoning Change" rolling over Evanston residents.

“I’m mad as hell,” Thodos told the Daily Northwestern. “We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore. Northwestern has really transformed from an institution of higher education to an institution of corporate greed. It’s extracting so much wealth from our community.”

On the other side of the debate, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce formally endorsed the redevelopment project on Tuesday, arguing it will bring more people and money to Evanston at no cost to taxpayers.

Garrett Karp, executive director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that the business community has supported the project since it was announced.

“It will bring new visitors, partnership opportunities, and investment to Evanston at no cost to taxpayers, and frankly is a no-brainer, especially given what the City’s economic impact study found, which is not surprising," Karp said.

"We need to think about the bigger picture, and the impact this project will have on future generations of residents and businesses," Karp said. "It would be foolish to let a privately funded gift like this pass us by, and Evanston Chamber encourages the City to approve this project.”

A 99-page economic impact study commissioned by the city from Johnson Consulting found that the six-concert-a-year plan would generate an estimated $77.8 million in total spending, $2.5 million in tax revenue and 510 full-time jobs in Evanston.

"There is a positive outcome for the Cities of Evanston and Wilmette, if desired. A poorly performing asset that results in insufficient use of the area on Central Street would be replaced at virtually no cost to the City. The replacement would be a more utilized venue but with a lower capacity, rebuilt with attention to placemaking, parking and transit," it said.

The Wilmette Village Board last month passed a resolution opposing the plan to hold concerts in the stadium, which is located right on the Evanston side of the border between the two towns.

"The proposed 28,500-person outdoor concert venue would be among the four largest venues in the State of Illinois," Village President Senta Plunkett said in a letter to the Evanston Land Use Commission. "If you have recently attended a concert of this size, you will quickly recognize the astounding impacts that the noise and traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, has upon the immediate area. Such impacts are compounded when envisioned in the middle of a residential neighborhood."

The impact study suggested the current stadium offers little value to the city of Evanston apart from Wildcat football home game days. And, if city officials are interested in generating more revenue, special events and concerts in the redeveloped stadium would bring more people to the area to spend more money, according to the consultants.

"This project presents an opportunity to help address one of the City’s major weaknesses, being that there is not enough critical mass to attract people to the City. Demand drivers, such as an improved venue, are needed to bring more weight to the east side of the community," it said. "Economically to the City and to Northwestern, a larger concert has almost equal economic value to the market as a football game. It is reasonable for Northwestern to attempt to get some additional demand to cover costs."

The Land Use Commission hearing on the subject, which has been extended over the course of three meetings, began with a five-hour discussion on Sept. 9. It continues Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, and it is expected to conclude on Oct. 11.

The nine-member volunteer commission will make a recommendation to the City Council, which is ultimately responsible for whether to approve the special use permit and zoning text amendment the university has requested.

One Evanston councilmember has announced he will not participate in the final vote. Ald. Juan Geracaris, 9th Ward, is employed by Northwestern as the senior network systems engineer in the Kellogg School of Management and has announced he will recuse himself. That means the mayor would need to break a potential 4-4 tie.

Last month, in a letter announcing Northwestern's willingness to reduce to six the maximum annual number of full-capacity concerts at the stadium, Schill made an indirect reference to the hazing scandal in the Northwestern athletics department that has led to firings and lawsuits this summer.

"I have been asked if recent events have changed our commitment to the Ryan Field project," he said. "As you know, and as I have shown through my actions, we are deeply committed to supporting our student-athletes and ensuring their well-being, now and in the future."