Northwestern University is in the early stages of asking Evanston officials for permission to host professional sporting events on campus, a move that’s drawing strong opposition from some neighbors.
According to Evanston city officials, Northwestern applied for a zoning change earlier this year for the school’s athletic campus on Central Street, which includes Ryan Field and Welsh-Ryan Arena, home of the school’s football and basketball teams. The change would allow some professional sporting events to be held on campus.
Early permit applications sought permission to host events that could fill Ryan Field’s 40,000 seats and Welsh-Ryan Arena’s 10,000 seats, said Scott Mangum, planning and zoning manager for the city of Evanston.
More recent, modified proposals only include a rezoning request for Welsh-Ryan Arena — not Ryan Field — and might cap the attendance at 7,000, meaning not all seats would be filled.
“They have some interest in expanding the types of events they can have there,” Mangum said. “We don’t have a final application.”
City officials have asked for a list of events that the university is interested in hosting as they consider the proposed change, Mangum said.
The item was originally scheduled for discussion at a June meeting of the city’s Plan Commission, but that has been pushed to July at the university’s request.
Northwestern officials declined to talk about the plan.
“It’s early in the process, and we prefer not to comment on this topic right now,” said Bob Rowley, a Northwestern spokesman.
Neighbors, however, recalled similar fights in the 1970s, when the Chicago Bears played a game at Ryan Field, then Dyche Stadium. A series of disputes over professional sporting events led Northwestern to sue Evanston over city rules banning professional events from campus facilities. That fight ultimately landed in Illinois Supreme Court.
Neighbor Mary Rosinski said in the 1990s she worked to oppose Northwestern efforts to hold professional sporting events. Again, the city said no. Rosinski said she’s frustrated to see the issue surface once again, citing traffic concerns on Central Street as a major sticking point.
“On game days and basketballs days you literally can’t get out of the neighborhood,” Rosinski said.
While Rosinski said she has no problems with the collegiate, intramural, nonprofit and cultural events hosted at the sports arenas, adding professional events to the mix would be too much.
“This is a whole new dimension,” Rosinski said.
Mangum said the city has fielded concerns from neighbors about traffic, parking and noise that might be exacerbated by the additional events.
Meanwhile, a Facebook group of concerned residents in north Evanston and southern Wilmette has sprouted up in recent days. A petition on the website change.org asking aldermen to vote against the proposed zoning changes had garnered more than 200 signatures.
Ald. Eleanor Revelle, whose 7th Ward includes Northwestern’s athletic complex, said that while the permit application needs revisions, neighbors are understandably concerned.
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Revelle said that if Northwestern wants to host professional events at one facility and not the other, the current zoning would need to be changed to reflect that. Currently, both facilities are zoned together.
Revelle also recalled past disagreements on the issue and the complaints residents voiced at the time. Those have not been forgotten, she said.