Evanston aldermen tonight will be asked to approve $6.6 million in additions to this year’s city budget — including a $2.2 million loan to the Piven Theatre Workshop for Noyes Center renovations.
The budget changes don’t in themselves commit the city to fund the projects involved, but indicate plans to move forward with them.
The City Council’s Human Services Committee put the Piven project on hold earler this month while it waits to receive an array of additional information about the proposal which came under sharp criticism from other Noyes tenants and arts activists.
The money for the Noyes project would come in the form of a long-term loan from the city’s parking fund.
Under the new spending plan from the city manager, the parking fund would also be tapped to loan money for purchase of the city’s recently approved New World Financial System. The city expects to be able to pay that back over five years from reduced maintenance payments for its existing JD Edwards financial package.
The proposal also calls for $2.3 million in additional spending in the capital improvement fund. Most of that represents an increase in street resurfacing projects and new funds to cover the failure to receive a grant for part of the cost for the Davis Street streetscape project.