With its plans for a rebuilt Ryan Field football stadium clinging to narrow support in the Evanston City Council, Northwestern University has sweetened its offer for public benefits if the city accepts its concert proposal Monday.
The university, which wants zoning authority for up to six outdoor concerts aside from football games at the new venue, has agreed to community donations totaling $157.5 million over 15 years. The funding commitments were contained in a “memorandum of understanding,” or MOU, reached with Evanston officials and posted on the city’s website Saturday.
Council members will review the memorandum Monday night, when they could vote to authorize the concerts. The vote would be to approve or deny the zoning.
The proposed annual donations for 15 years include $3 million to Evanston’s Good Neighbor Fund, $2 million to help high school students in Evanston afford college and $1 million to Evanston nonprofit groups. The university also has said it would guarantee $2.5 million in annual tax revenue from Ryan Field events once the stadium is completed.
Northwestern’s demand for six annual concerts has divided Evanston, with many seeing it as an economic gift to the suburb while others, especially those living close to the stadium, oppose it because of noise and traffic from the events.
The benefits offer supplants Northwestern’s earlier written pledge of $100 million over 10 years. The former pledge was made public two weeks ago, hours before the council cast a pivotal vote to consider the project.
But any Northwestern donations are a flash point for some residents, as the university pays no property taxes.
Homes on Eastwood Avenue, west of Ryan Field, display signs protesting Northwestern University’s plan for a new stadium with “mega concerts.”
David Roeder/Sun-Times
After hearing hours of testimony that mostly assailed the concerts, the council on Oct. 31 voted 5-4 to take up the zoning proposal for consideration. Mayor Daniel Biss had broke a 4-4 council deadlock to advance the $800 million project to a final vote.
Biss could not be reached for comment Monday.
Biss also has proposed city tax increases based on future events at Ryan Field. The city would increase its liquor and amusement taxes for large-scale gatherings. Those measures also come before the council Monday.
NU’s pattern of proposing benefits just before council decisions has fueled criticism that Biss and city officials are negotiating with the university in secret. NU did not respond to requests for comment.
“The way the mayor has set up this process is really behind closed doors,” said David DeCarlo, president of the Most Livable City Association. His group has coordinated opposition to the stadium.
He criticized the new benefits memorandum, saying that while it raises financial aid, it also appears to protect NU’s rights in case Evanston ever wanted to tighten concert regulations.
“The only way to view that MOU is that Northwestern is trying to make this a forever deal,” he said.
Asked what his group will do if the project passes, DeCarlo said, “The fight goes on.”
Lawsuits over the process Evanston used in its zoning deliberations are expected.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.