Artists Book House Harley Clarke Proposal Approved By Aldermen

EVANSTON, IL — The Evanston City Council Monday authorized lease negotiations with a tenant for the long-vacant landmark Harley Clarke Mansion and Coach house, a city-owned lakefront property that faced potential demolition in 2018.

After reviewing four proposals for the renovation of the property, aldermen voted 7-1 to approve a proposal from for the Artists Book House — a library, bookshop, arts studio and cafe. Ald. Tom Suffredin, 6th Ward, voted against, and Ald. Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, abstained. Final approval of a negotiated lease will require six votes, according to city staff.

The 1927-built Harley Clarke Mansion and Coach House building has been owned by the city since it was purchased from a fraternity in 1960 and has been vacant since the Evanston Arts Center departed in 2015.

Monday's meeting came almost six months after the City Council directed staff to evaluate the proposals submitted in response to the May 2019 request for proposals. Following the outbreak of the coronavirus in Illinois, city staff asked each of the groups to submit a revised post-COVID-19 fundraising plan and address any changes to their model.

That RFP followed voters' overwhelming approval of a non-binding referendum asking whether the city should preserve the landmark for public use "at minimal or no cost to Evanston taxpayers." The referendum was placed on the November 2018 ballot after an abortive effort to demolish the structure via private financing earlier that year.

The visions for the future of the city-owned lakefront landmark were submitted by four groups: Artists Book House, Evanston Community Lakehouse and Gardens, Evanston Conservancy Benefit Corporation and ONECommunity Museum.

City staff scored the proposals on six criteria. (See full scores below.) Three quarters of the score was devoted to the benefit of the site's proposed use, the financial capability of the proposal and the qualifications of each team. The other quarter of the score was made up of the community benefit, the completeness of the proposals and their commitment to meeting the city's goal of participation by businesses owned by minorities, women or Evanstonians.

One of the proposals was rated as "highly qualified," two were scored as "qualified" and one was found to be "less qualified" by an evaluation committee made up of staff from the city manager's office, parks department, community development, public works, purchasing and facilities divisions.

Three of the proposals were included in the public materials ahead of Monday's City Council meeting, while one of the group's refused to publicly release its response, according to staff.

The top-scoring plan was submitted by the Artists Book House group, founded by author Audrey Niffenegger. The proposal envisions using the Harley Clarke house as an instructional space, gallery, library, bookshop and cafe devoted to the art of books and showcasing local authors and artists. There will be a papermaking studio and heavy machinery for printing, with bookbinding in the home's former master bedroom area. A restored library will be open to the public on a limited basis.

Niffenegger, an Evanston native and author of the bestselling "The Time Traveler's Wife," founded the Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago in 1994. That center, which offered master's degree programs and residencies, closed in 2019. The Artists Book House proposal seeks to offer non-credit community education and internship opportunities.

The nonprofit group estimates the cost of its proposed renovation at between $8.2 million and $10.4 million for the main house, with another $1 million to $1.4 million for the coach house. The group plans to hire a professional fundraiser to finance the renovation without borrowing money. The project team includes architect Eifler & Associates, Teska Associates as landscape architects and W.B. Olson as general contractor.

The second most highly rated plan was submitted by The Evanston Conservancy Benefit Corporation. Under Illinois law, the corporate charter of a benefit corporation must include a social good, and it must report its progress annually according to a third-party standard aimed at measuring social responsibility.

The proposal calls for a gallery, event and exhibition space and preschool on the ground floor, a cafe and kitchen on the first floor and patio, a co-working office and conference space on the second floor and space for mindfulness and movement programming on the third floor. The lower level would include performance and maker spaces, while the greenhouse and conservatory would be used by a local farm and the coach house would be turned into a bike shop and cafe.

According to the group, more than a half-dozen businesses have declared their intent to lease space at the site as part of the plan. They include Covenant Nursery School, Creative Coworking, a pair of catering companies, yoga studio, a theater company, a meditation space, Heritage Bikes & Coffee, The Talking Farm and Midwest Center for Climate Action.

The group plans to fund the estimated $4.9 million capital budget through investments, tax benefits, grants, loans from banks and donations rather than fundraising. Once complete, it said it planed to be financially sustainable on its own through revenue from tenants and events.

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The next highest scoring proposal came from Evanston Community Lakehouse and Gardens. The nonprofit group was formed in 2015 to preserve the mansion. An earlier proposal from the group was the only response to a 2017 RFP, but the City Council decided against leasing the site.

The proposal calls for a community campus with events space, outdoor classes, exhibits, visual and performing arts, environmental education, group exercise, cooking and gardening classes,

The group estimated the total cost of planned renovations to be about $4 million. It has been offered a private $1.5 million unsecured loan and plans to create a for-profit subsidiary to raise $1 million in donations for the first phase of the effort. According to its proposal, a feasibility study indicated there was donor capacity over $4 million, which it projected would cover renovation and start-up funds, with revenue generating programs and fundraising intended to sustain the operations in the following years.

The project's lead architect is Elliott Dudnik, who has previously completed projects at the house. Central Lake Construction Company would be responsible for supervising the work.

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OneCommunity Museum's response to the request for proposals, or RFP, was the lone proposal scored "less qualified" by the staff advisory committee.

The group, founded by Allison Lavigne and Benjamin Gasbarra, declined to publicly release their proposal, so it was not included in the agenda materials. OneCommunity Museum also did not submit a minority, women, and Evanston business enterprise participation form, nor did it acknowledge addendums to the RFP, according to staff.

According to a staff summary of the plan, the group proposed creating a museum with a children's floor, a working greenhouse and garden to produce flowers and microgreens, a market cafe, a shared community space and room for educational and self-care activities.

The group's financial plans were not clear from the limited summary included. The group expects to receive corporate and institutional sponsorships, grants, philanthropy, event income or other financing. It currently has about $100,000 to dedicate to the project and planned to raise a $10 million endowment, were it selected to lease the property.

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READ MORE: Full proposals from Artists Book House, Evanston Conservancy and Evanston Community Lakehouse and Gardens