Evanston Lakehouse & Gardens, the not-for-profit group that hopes to win a 40-year lease of the city-owned Harley Clarke Mansion at next Monday’s City Council meeting, has hired architectural and fundraising consultants.
In a press release, the group said it’s chosen Anne McGuire of McGuire Igleski & Associates, Inc., for the design work and former Evanston Community Foundation head Sara Schastok to lead its fundraising effort.
The group says it wants to turn the now-shuttered lakefront mansion into “an inspiring space for environmental education and cultural programming that will serve as a gateway to the Great Lakes for generations to come.”
What a shame
This non profit has a great idea for a program, but putting it into a building that will require millions of dollars just to be functional is going to place an unnecessary burden on the organization.
I hope for them they city will pay for annual upkeep after any renovation takes place.
I would guess annual maintenance on the building will be about $250k. Is this organization about environmental education programs for kids or historic preservation? It will be impossible to raise enough money annually to do both even after a successful capital campaign.