Wilmette Trustees To Weigh In On Ryan Field Redesign With Resolution
WILMETTE, IL — Wilmette village trustees are set to formally signal their opposition to an effort by Northwestern University officials to change the city of Evanston’s zoning code to allow it to host large-scale concerts and other events at its football stadium.
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Village President Senta Plunkett said more than 200 residents have sent messages to trustees on the matter.
“We understand your concerns. We share your concerns. I’ve been in meetings, formally, with Evanston officials, with councilmembers and staff, as well as Northwestern,” Plunkett said last week at a village board meeting.
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“I have further meetings with [Evanston] Mayor [Daniel] Biss and [7th Ward] Alderman [Eleanor] Revelle,” she said. “And I will continue to share all of your concerns.”
The plan calls for a reduction from the stadium’s current capacity of 47,000 to 35,000 and modifications to Evanston’s zoning code to allow for the commercial use of the site, with up to 10 full-capacity concerts and unlimited events with fewer than 10,000 attendees.
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Current zoning rules limit the use of the stadium to sporting events, graduation and small-scale community events — but only if city officials grant a permit.
Plunkett said the village board is going to vote at its Aug. 8 meeting on a resolution that would object to zoning changes in Evanston that would allow concerts at Ryan Field. She said she plans to personally present the resolution to the Evanston Plan Commission on Aug. 23 and at a future meeting of the Evanston City Council.
The $800 million plan to rebuild Ryan Field has faced oppositions from residents on both the Evanston and Wilmette side of their Isabella Street border, just north of the field. Concerns have included the increased noise, traffic, and mayhem associated with large-scale concerts.
About a dozen Wilmette residents spoke during the portion of the July 25 village board meeting reserved from comments from the public. Nearly all of them expressed opposition to the plan, with many suggesting that village trustees be ready to take the university to court to keep concerts out of the neighborhood.
“We can’t allow Northwestern to diminish the splendid character of our village for 150 years. It’ll do too much harm. Big concerts will change all of that. We all know what they bring. We know what big concerts bring. They bring drunkenness, drugs, lewd behavior, petty crime and invariably public health damages,” resident Rich Levy said. “Public health damages and quality of life damages — nevermind the tax burden on Wilmette and the costs of policing the same, but think of the mental health impact on the first responders.”
Resident Marianne Hopman, who is also a professor at Northwestern, cited noise studies indicating the sound from concerts that the rebuilt stadium would be equivalent to a leaf blower from 16 feet away for residents of Lake Avenue, and just six feet away for immediate neighbors.
“It is clear that mega concerts in the midst of a residential area would severely impact the quality of life of Wilmette residents. Amplified concert sound would prevent us from enjoying precious summer evenings, relaxing in our yards with family and friends. Worse even, such levels of noise pollution would have a detrimental health impact upon many segments of our population. Unlike daytime football games, the noise from ‘mega-concerts’ will last until 10 p.m. or later when young kids are trying to sleep,” Hopman said.
Hopman said studies have shown noise pollution can reduce life expectancy, and she noted recommendations of maximum noise levels for hospital environments. Evanston Hospital is located two blocks east of the stadium, just across the North Shore Channel.
Dr. Ronald Meyer, a retired anesthesiologist and Wilmette resident, said in an op-ed that the proposal would expose patients and staff to noise levels that could compromise care. Traffic and congestion associated with the plan could also limit access to the hospital in emergency situations, Meyer said.
And since recent revelations of hazing and ritualized abuse the Northwestern football team, and other allegations of a toxic training culture in the athletics department, more than 260 of its professors signed an open letter calling on the to halt the planning and marketing of the new stadium.
As a nonprofit, private university, Northwestern does not pay property taxes, contributing to complaints from residents who object to the increased commercial capitalization that university officials say the Ryan Field rebuild will bring.
While the university operates its own private police force and reimburses the city for its use of Evanston Police Department staff for university events, Evanston taxpayers have subsidized the school’s emergency services to the tune of more than half a million dollars a year.
On Tuesday, university officials announced former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch will lead a review into the culture of the school’s athletic department in the wake of the school’s hazing scandal.
Unlike the six-month independent investigation into hazing in the football program, which initially resulted in a two-week suspension for former head coach Pat Fitzgerald — effectively a slap on the wrist — before details of the hazing allegations emerged in the school newspaper and university officials reversed course and fired him.
Read more: Former U.S. Attorney General To Review Northwestern Practices, Culture
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