Could Northlight Theater Return to Evanston?

Evanston needs bigger theater spaces, and Northlight Theatre might return to town for just the right venue, according to a recent study commissioned by the city.

But there’s no obvious source of funding for the study’s recommendations, which call for nearly $150 million for three separate theaters.

Consultants presented the conclusions of the city-commissioned study to Evanston aldermen on Monday. The study cost $100,000, and funding was split between city dollars and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

“What we found were successful artists working in small venues—like Next, Piven, Mudlark and Piccolo,” said consultant Todd Hensley, a partner with Schuler Shook Theater Planners. “They need a space that would allow them to grow.” 

The consultants talked to several local theaters and other Evanston stakeholders, as well as Northlight Theatre, to determine what sort of spaces were needed. They identified three types: a medium-sized flexible use theater, a theater with fixed seating and a stage for dance or music performances, and a larger theater that could possibly serve as a home for Northlight Theatre. 

“Northlight said to us, as part of the study, in no uncertain terms, ‘we wish to return to Evanston,’” Hensley said. 

The consultants proposed constructing two flexible theaters with moveable seating at what is now a city-owned parking lot to the west of the Evanston Public Library, facing Clark Street and Church Street. They also proposed a second venue with fixed seating, for music and dance performances, at the northwest corner of Davis Street and Chicago Avenue. The site currently houses the Golden Olympic restaurant and Accents Plus, among other stores, as well as a Chase Bank drive-through. 

The third location the consultants proposed was chosen specifically with Northlight Theatre in mind: the southeast corner of Davis Street and Maple Avenue, where the furniture store Affordable Portables is located, among other businesses. 

All told, the consultants estimated that the cost of building the theaters would be roughly $140 million, including construction costs and other opening costs. The cost of acquiring the venues, besides the city-owned parking lot, would add an additional $4 million to the price tag.

After hearing the report, Evanston aldermen questioned both the availability of the sites selected and the feasibility of funding. The consultants said they had not made a special effort to speak with property owners to gauge their interest in developing a theater, but had selected sites based on what would provide the best use for the needs of local theater groups, not availability.

As for funding, the consultants said they envisioned a combination of city money and grants or fundraising from other sources.  

Evanston aldermen also questioned how seriously the city could woo Northlight Theatre, given what it took to construct the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, where Northlight has been the theater-in-residence for years. The $18 million building was funded by a $13.2-million grant from the state of Illinois, private funding, and $3.4 million from the village of Skokie.

“I don’t think the state of Illinois is going to give anybody $13 million in the near future,” Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl said. “You did a wonderful report, it was very clear, until it got to how we’re going to pay for it.”

Founded in 1974, Northlight operated out of Evanston’s Coronet Theatre, at 817 Chicago Ave., for several years during the 1990s, before the Coronet Theatre was demolished in 2000. Northlight became the resident theater company at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie in 1997, and has been there ever since. But the consultants insisted that Northlight would be interested in coming back to Evanston, given the right venue. 

City manager Wally Bobkiewicz said that in his conversations with Northlight Theater, adminstrators have said they would like to return to Evanston due to the vibrancy of the downtown area with its many restaurants, as well as proximity to Northwestern University and the Metra and CTA lines.