Members of the city’s Preservation Commission at their meeting earlier this month largely agreed that city designs for a protected two-way lane on Church Street west of Dodge Avenue and an expanded shared biking and pedestrian path along McCormick Boulevard pose no adverse effects to the two historic properties in the area — Evanston Township High School and the North Shore Channel.
Commission members didn’t take a formal vote at the meeting. But in responding to a question posed by commission member Carl Klein, who was serving as chair, they didn’t argue that the project would adversely impact that area of town.
During the discussion, however, one commissioner, Amanda Ziehm, voiced the lone dissenting view. She questioned officials about a proposed path along the east side of the channel between Dempster and Church streets, and particularly the need to cut through green space at the channel to run the path under Dempster Street.
“Right over on McCormick on the Skokie side, there’s a long path — it’s parallel to that one,” she pointed out, suggesting the McCormick option would make more sense. “I don’t know that there’s a huge demand for that piece.”…