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Showdown Between Activists, NU Over Historic House

NU Says Evanston History Center, Located In Charles G. Dawes House, May Reopen In Summer

EVANSTON, Ill. (STNG) ― The Evanston History Center, housed in the Charles Gates Dawes mansion for more than half a century and closed since April 17, may reopen to the public in some form early this summer, the Evanston Review is reporting.

The likely reopening has emerged as a result of talks between Northwestern University, which owns the mansion, and the group that runs the History Center.

The center, which includes archival records, is used extensively by researchers, and is a place for exhibits and school tours. It was closed to the public April 17, with Northwestern citing building repair costs at the century old building and concerns about fire safety.

Representatives from the center have been working with university officials Eugene Sunshine, senior vice president of business and finance, and Ron Nayler, associate vice president for facilities management. They have talked about a temporary plan that would allow limited access to the first floor and basement, where research is conducted.

The changes were outlined in a letter from Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky to Northwestern and the History Center, indicating those areas could be used with minor modifications and limitations to the number of people allowed in at one time, Berkowsky confirmed Wednesday.

He said those portions of the building, as far as he's concerned, could open as soon as the changes are made.

Marge Wold, president of the Evanston History Center's board, said Tuesday she hoped the areas would reopen by early summer.

The issue is also being talked about in connection with a new lease agreement that would allow the History Center to remain in the building beyond June 30, to December 2009, representatives of the center and university said. Currently, the university rents Dawes House to the center for a nominal annual fee.

Sunshine said there are a number of different options on the table.

"They're continuing to talk to us and we continue to listen," he said. "The point is, there is good spirit, there is good interest on the part of both sides. That's been the case and continues to be the case."

University officials questioned earlier whether it made sense to pour money into the building to bring it into compliance with changing structural codes and whether it would be better to assist the center in finding a new site.

Consultants reports have identified backlogged life-safety repairs at the building in excess of $4 million -- exceeding the endowment fund left by the Dawes family to the university, estimated between $1.4 to $1.9 million.

Northwestern officials had said earlier that if the History Center were to move elsewhere, the university would consider using Dawes to house an employee of the university, or considering selling the property to a private individual.

Meanwhile, some local activists planned to gather in front of the Dawes Mansion at 225 Greenwood St. on Thursday morning, hoping to persuade university officials to allow the center to remain in the building as the city's museum and history center, said Mimi Peterson, one of the activists.

Activists are calling their group General Dawes Returns, after Charles Gates Dawes, a general and vice president under U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.

"People are upset and they don't know what to do about it," said Peterson, who spent extensive time at the center doing research for her recent book on Evanston's postcard history. "They found this such an egregious act on the part of the university, to ignore their commitment to General Dawes, to ignore their commitment to the History Center.

"It was always meant to be a public museum, open to the Evanston children to come and view where history lived."

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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