The Daily Northwestern Friday, May 19, 2017
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Tied Together
Photo Illustration by Allie Goulding and Jeffrey Wang
As town-gown strains subside, concerns over communication gaps, University contributions linger By RISHIKA DUGYALA
daily senior staffer @rdugyala822
When Morton Schapiro stepped into his role as Northwestern’s president in 2009, Elizabeth Tisdahl, who had just been elected Evanston mayor, immediately reached out to him. Tisdahl said she threw Schapiro a welcoming party and gave him
homemade baked goods to send a clear message: She wanted the town-gown feud to be over. Relations between the city and the University had long been strained due to persisting studentresident conflicts and property tax concerns, coupled with brief land ownership battles in the 1960s and lawsuits filed in the late 1990s. Though some of the conflict was not unusual to most towngown relationships, officials said
few community discussions were led to mitigate the tension before Schapiro and Tisdahl entered office. “It was like a bad marriage for many years, decades I guess, where they hurt themselves just to hurt the other party,” Schapiro told The Daily in March. Over the last eight years, Schapiro said he and Tisdahl developed a great friendship, in addition to their working relationship.
Town-gown relations improved under their leadership, said Alan Anderson, NU’s executive director of neighborhood and community relations. He said NU increased its financial contributions to, and sustainable partnerships with, the city, which weren’t as visible prior to Schapiro’s tenure. But even as the ties grow among top-level officials and begin to extend into the broader community, communication gaps remain.
There are few direct avenues for residents to contact the University and even fewer for students to contact the city’s government. Residents continue to worry about NU acquiring properties — therefore taking them off the tax roll — and some say the University’s initiatives in Evanston haven’t reached enough community members. With a new mayor elected this year and Northwestern hoping to maintain the relationship’s
positive trajectory, several residents, students and officials said there is more to be done. “I want Evanston to feel like they own the University, and the University to feel like they own Evanston,” Anderson said.
Paying a fair share
Many concerns in the years before Tisdahl and Schapiro came » See TIED, page 6
Officials block road plan NU reacts to ICE protest Roadway would have cut through Isabella Woods
Schapiro, Linzer call protesters ‘disrespectful’
By KRISTINA KARISCH
By MARIANA ALFARO
the daily northwestern @kristinakarisch
The board of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago voted unanimously Thursday to block the construction of a roadway through Isabella Woods, an undisturbed oak forest in northwest Evanston. Isabella Woods is located north of Isabella Road and is
currently leased to the city by the MWRD. The oak forest sits on clay soil and is part of the North Shore Channel, a wildlife corridor. Clay soil assists in stormwater drainage, making Isabella Woods a natural drainage site, said Libby Hill, the Evanston North Shore Bird Club program chair. “We have very little remnant oak forest in Evanston,” said Leslie Shad, a lawyer and Evanston TreeKeeper. “It just makes no sense to destroy it. You can get access to the landlocked property
from the north. Why do we have to destroy this little, unique public asset that we don’t have any others of?” Shad added it was very heartening to see the unanimous support from MWRD commissioners for a natural habitat in Evanston. Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th), who attended the Thursday meeting, said about 15 Evanston residents came to speak. She » See ROAD, page 11
daily senior staffer @marianaa_alfaro
University administrators said participants of a Tuesday protest that led to the cancellation of a guest lecture by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement public relations representative were “disrespectful.” In a statement to students,
the daily northwestern @sydstone16
Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th) speaks at a city meeting. Revelle and other Evanston residents advocated against a proposed access road that would have cut through Isabella Woods in northwest Evanston.
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
unidentified ICE public relations representative to Sociology 201. Student demonstrators said the ICE representative’s presence could be disturbing and harmful for undocumented people on campus or students who’ve seen a loved one detained by the federal agency. In their statement, Schapiro and Linzer said “faculty members are free to » See RESPONSE, page 11
Target to open new location By SYD STONE
Katie Pach/Daily Senior Staffer
University President Morton Schapiro and Provost Dan Linzer said the student protesters’ behavior was “inappropriate and contrary to the values of the University.” They said the University is reviewing facts around Tuesday’s events to “determine the appropriate actions to be taken by the University.” Tuesday’s protest was held in response to sociology Prof. Beth Redbird’s invitation of an
Target has signed a lease for a small-format store in downtown Evanston that is projected to open in March 2018, according to a Thursday news release. The 27,400-square-foot store, slated for The Shops at Sherman Plaza, will be the company’s 84th location in the Chicago area, according to the release. The Evanston location — 1620 Sherman Ave. — will be the company’s ninth smallformat store in the area. Target already has a location
in Evanston at 2209 Howard St., but according to the release, Target is focused on expanding small-format stores in urban and suburban neighborhoods, as well as near college campuses. Ald. Judy Fiske (1st), whose ward will include the store, said she thinks the small-format store is a good fit for downtown Evanston. “Our downtown is really a walkable downtown,” Fiske said. “Their larger stores are placed in shopping centers where there’s tons of parking, but the smaller stores fit in better with an established and walkable downtown community.”
The new location does not need approval from City Council, Fiske said, as the space will be leased through Sherman Plaza’s private leasing agent, Highlands REIT, Inc. Although she said she is unsure how long the city has been working to attract Target, she said it seems they’ve been talking about it “for years.” Fiske said the long wait time is to be expected because corporate tenants tend to take longer to sign contracts than smaller businesses. “I’m just really glad that it finally happened,” Fiske said. “It » See TARGET, page 11
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