Alderman Wants City to Keep Harley Clarke Mansion

One Evanston alderman has proposed the city put up money to keep and save the Harley Clarke Mansion, but the idea received mixed reviews at the most recent meeting of the City Council.

Fourth Ward Ald. Don Wilson’s idea is to have the city allocate up to $590,000 in capital improvement funds to fix up the lakefront building next to the Grosse Point Lighthouse, according to the Evanston Review.

Some, like Third Ward Ald. Melissa Wynne, saw that as a viable option that just may work.

The benefits include that “the city maintains control” of the property and that groups such as the non-profit Evanston Lakehouse & Gardens have tremendous interest in using the building as a public-first recreational and educational facility.

But others on the Council, like Seventh Ward Ald. Jane Grover, have concerns over the idea.

Grover said she doesn’t know “where the $590,000 fits in to our capital improvement programming — capital improvement programming that we’re really trying to regularize and prioritize and consider in light of all the city’s facilities and infrastructure.”

more via the Evanston Review