It’s Northwestern vs. Evanston Neighbors Over a New $800 Million Stadium That Will Host Concerts and Serve Booze
‘You’ll have people spilling out of concerts drunk at 10:30, 11 o’clock.’
www.wsj.com
"Townies vs. Gownies" with some twists in the plot . . . .
$800M price tag quoted
Friction is rising again as the university seeks a zoning change for a new, $800 million complex. Northwestern has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and launched a public-relations campaign with a descriptive if not exactly catchy tagline: “Rebuilding Ryan Field: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform lives in Evanston.”
Plenty of neighbors would prefer their lives remain untransformed.
More than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling for city leaders not to rubber-stamp the project. Signs dot front yards deriding “MegaConcerts” and “Profiteering.” Residents pack local meetings.
Opposition research has fueled accusations of NIMBY hypocrisy by a wealthy Northwestern trustee and stadium supporter who himself fought a construction project near his Martha’s Vineyard summer residence.
Underlying the drive for the new complex is an amenities arms race that dominates American higher education.
