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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2000Lighthouse Landing Committee Meeting Minutes Match 22, 2000 Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 1:30 PM Aidermanic Library Members Present: Paul DAgostino Pam Elesh Stephen Engleman Gene Grabowski Joan Jenkins Linda Lutz Brooke Mader Mary Ann Pollard Max Rubin Pam Elesh As grounds chairman of the Art Center, Pam is working with the Crossroads Girl Scout Council on Saturday, April 22"d. She will be providing gloves, garbage bags, and refreshments. The girls will be spending about 2 hours at the site. 70 —150 kids and parents are expected. The Garden Club of Evanston and the Art Center will provide adult supervision. Pam has a plan and a contract from Nature's Perspective for approximately $6500 to repair the pond area. The Committee had determined that the $6500 for the pond repair would come from Fred Yoder's donation of approximately $20,000. Paul will locate the Fred's donation in the City of Evanston's funds. Repairs will relay the lining of the pond, do new piping, and a new above ground pump located in the rock structure (this location will be easier to clean). The grounds committee at the Art Center is planning on raising $40,000 to restore the Jens Jensen landscape at the site. Letters and grants will be written to solicit funds. Thanks to Paul for cutting 2 trees and the crabapple planted in front looks good. Max Rubin & Gene Grabowski The old benches and birdbath in the grassy area have been removed. GCE will purchase a new bench appropriate to Jens Jensen style. The bird bath fountain had water at one time. It was given in 1938 and has a bronze plaque given by the GCE for a member. The greenhouse cans are old and parts are no longer available. Facirrties Management will cap. The greenhouse is in need of renovation. A new fan, exhaust system, and windows with broken seals need to be replaced. The gravel paths along the wildflower garden were discussed. These are not wheelchair accessible. Max will have Anil look at the pathway for accessibility Issues. Additionally Anil wall check sidewalks, paths along the pond, and lawn grading. Linda will checkto see if there are any accessibility issues with summer campers. Brooke Maier The chain link sculptures are down. The first three weeks of May the new summer sculpture will be installed. Most likely Parks will be able to mow around the sculpture. Yard waste seems to be piling up. It should be placed near the dumpster. Landscape waste can be placed in large bags. Pam will supply with brown bags for the landscape wastes. Linda Lutz Summer programming is planned for the site. There will be camps for-9—12year olds, 5 year olds and a mixed age camp at the end of the summer. Some repairs are being made to the interior cabinets and a general clean up will occur prior to camp opening. The Ecology Center's spring greenhouse sale will be the first two weekends in May. Community Gardening will continue as usual in the north end of Lawson Park. Steve Engleman Alderman Engleman discusses the $20,000 earmarked for the beautification around the coach house and south side of the Ari Center. Several suggestions rK Included a plaque or sculpture near the pond, several trees that would work as a 'front door' to the complex, plants for between the rocks at the pond, and birch trees near the south foghouse. Steve urged caution, as the money would be quickly used up. Committee members should bring ideas to the next meeting and perhaps the Committee can develop a well thought out plan for the site using Fred Yoder's donation. Coach House The Committee discussed plans for the coach house. The Human Services committee is reviewing options. Several organizations would like use of the facility: the Art Center is interested in the entire building, the City may consider the former use of rental apartments. The GCE would still like use of a section of the garage for their tools. Deliberations will continue. Don "Torras Don was not able to attend the meeting and attached is his report. Next !Meeting The Committee agreed to meet on Wednesday, June 21a at 1:3D PM in the Aldermanic Library. Respectivety submitted, Linda Lutz Lighthouse PaA- Committee Meeting Lighthouse Park Dust ict Director's Report 1) Last year I received a number of cccnplaints fiom parents concerned about kids possibly getting hurt from lifting rb- cover to an underground water main turn-off: This is located in the middle of the south pathway through the wildflower gardens at its east end (it sometimes is cov with gavel). At times children, and others, lift this cover to see what's inside. Lf the cover came down on a hand or head, or if someone was to enter this undergrcr and area., they could be hurt. Is there a way that this iron cover can be secured" It might save everyone a liability problem in the futon. 2) The lighthouse was given a safety r-m pection aver the wzn:er by representatives from Factory Mutual Insurance Co_ i.= the recuest of Evanston) and Chief Alan Berkow-sld, Fire Marshall for Evan:.--Izm As a msulL %vc are in the process of completing safety upgrades that include modifications. to the rules governing our lighthouse tours. Most noteworthy :-e changes in number of people allowed per tour and that children under age 8 m3y no longer be a part of tours that include the light tower. We also are having to make quali:tcations regarding access to the light tower during extreme weather =Aitioru. All of this will result in stricter guidelines for tours which the visidzne public —I'm sure --will have a hard time understanding. This is a problem thYt all lighthouse museums are dealing with today with the exception of those operated by state and/or the federal government These agencies have a high toleranQ- for liability. 3) 1 submitted a grant proposal to IDOT for funds that will be used to complete transformation of the interior of the north foghorn house into a maritime museum/visitor center. This use will be in keeping with the Lighthouse Master Plan agreed upon by Evanston and Lighthouse Park District and will enable larger tour groups to visit the lighthouse site in a safe and manageable way. Since the lighthouse became designated a Na:ional Historic Landmark, the District has been under increasing pressure from Evanston organizations (most notably, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce) to provide Large Chamber -sponsored tour groups access to the site. We should know whether funding for this proposal is successful by June. If successful, the project would not begin in earnest until spring of 2001. if not successful, we will be re -applying for funds in the fall. 4) Specially scheduled lighthouse tours will begin in May with our regular weekend season opening on Saturday, June 3-`. The cost for admission is being reconsidered. However, at the preset time the fee is S4 for adults and S2 for children between the ages of 8 and 12. Lighthouse Landing Committee Meeting Minutes June 21, 2000 Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 1:30 PM Aldermanic Library Members Present: Paul D'Agostino Pam Elesh Stephen Engleman Gene Grabowski Joan Jenkins Linda Lutz Brooke Mader Mary Ann Pollard Max Rubin Pam Elesh As grounds chairman of the Art Center, Pam is working with the Crossroads Girl Scout Council on Saturday, April 22"d. She will be providing gloves, garbage bags, and refreshments. The girls will be spending about 2 hours at the site. 70 --150 kids and parents are expected. The Garden Club of Evanston and the Art Center will provide adult supervision. Pam has a plan and a contract from Nature's Perspective for approximately $6500 to repair the pond area. The Committee had determined that the $6500 for the pond repair would come from Fred Yoder's donation of approximately $20,000. Paul will locate the Fred's donation in the City of Evanston's funds. Repairs will re -lay the lining of the pond, do new piping, and a new above ground pump located in the rock structure (this location will be easier to clean). The grounds committee at the Art Center is planning on raising $40,000 to restore the Jens Jensen landscape at the site. Letters and grants will be written to solicit funds. Thanks to Paul for cutting 2 trees and the crabapple planted in front looks good. Max Rubin & Gene Grabowski The old benches and birdbath in the grassy area have been removed. GCE will' purchase a new bench appropriate to Jens Jensen style. The bird bath fountain had water at one time. It was given in 1938 and has a bronze plaque given by the GCE for a member. The greenhouse cans are old and parts are no longer available. Facilities Management will cap. The greenhouse is in need of renovation. A new fan, exhaust system, and windows with broken seals need to be replaced. The gravel paths along the wildflower garden were discussed. These are not wheelchair accessible. Max will have Anil look at the pathway for accessibility issues. Additionally Anil will check sidewalks, paths along the pond, and lawn grading. Linda will check to see if there are any accessibility issues with summer campers. Brooke Maler The chain link sculptures are down. The first three weeks of May the new summer sculpture will be installed. Most likely Parks will be able to mow around the sculpture. Yard waste seems to be piling up. It should be placed near the dumpster. Landscape waste can be placed in large bags. Pam will supply with brown bags for the landscape wastes. Linda Lutz Summer programming is planned for the site. There will be camps for-9 — 12year olds, 5 year olds and a mixed age camp at the end of the summer. Some repairs are being made to the interior cabinets and a general clean up will occur prior to camp opening. The Ecology Center's spring greenhouse sale will be the first two weekends in May. Community Gardening will continue as usual in the north end of Lawson Park. Steve Engleman Alderman Engleman discusses the S20,000 earmarked for the beautification around the coach house and south side of the Art Center. Several suggestions included a plaque or sculpture near the pond, several trees that would work as a "front door to the complex, plants for between the rocks at the pond, and birch trees near the south foghouse. Steve urged caution, as the money would be quickly used up. Committee members should bring ideas to the next meeting and perhaps the Committee can develop a well thought out plan for the site using Fred Yoder's donation. Coach House The Committee discussed plans for the coach house. The Human Services committee is reviewing options. Several organizations would like use of the facility: the Art Center is interested in the entire building, the City may consider the former use of rental apartments. The GCE would still like use of a section of the garage for their tools. Deliberations will continue. Don Terras Don was not able to attend the meeting and attached is his report. Next Meeting The Committee agreed to meet on Wednesday, June 211t at 1:30 PM in the Aldermanic Library. Respectively submitted, Linda Lutz Lighthouse Landing Committee Meeting Minutes September 20, 2000 Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 14th 1:30 PM Evanston Art Center Members Present: Larry Boswell Paul D'Agostino Pam Elesh Peter Gordon Linda Lutz Max Rubin Don Terras A general reminder that the City of Evanston's CIP (capital improvement program) funds larger projects with bonds generally based on a 20-year repayment. Debt service is a required part of bonding. CIP projects are preferred capital projects. Ecology Center Linda reported that the Ecology Center would have a series of fall nature programs for children at the north and south foghouses. Other fall programs are being conducted at several community centers as well as at Lovelace Park. Fall programming sites were based on the possibility that the Ecology Center would be under construction but the bids received in July 2001 were well beyond the proposed project budget. Re -bidding is planned for January 2001 with construction to begin in the spring. The annual Halloween program will be held at the Lighthouse landing area on October 201h and 21s°. Hallowed Eve is a family program that will utilize the greenhouse, fire circle, foghouse, and picnic shelter. The community garden program ran smoothly. The Ecology Center helped several older gardeners who were not able to clear their plots due to illness. Don Terras Don noted the overgrowth of plants on the south side of the garage door. Dot had replaced a bulb that had been burned out for 4 -- 5 months. No news has been received on the IDOT grant, which included funding for nth the main lighthouse building and the north foghouse. Max noted that work requested could be e-mailed to him. Paul D'Agostino Paul reported that there were not other bids than from Nature's Perspective for the grotto. He will arrange for the work to begin. Approximate costs are $6,821.00 Work around the Art Center will continue on the north bed. Caution is necessary due to the skunk population. if the skunk problem is bad, animal control can be called for traps. Paul will check the tree on the east side of the gallery as requested by Pam. Peter Gordon Peter had a list of Art Center projects. The list is attached to these minutes. In reviewing the list, the idea was to determine what needs to be fixed and what projects could possibly go into the CIP. The City of Evanston is behind on CIP projects and there may not be a new CIP budget for the upcoming year allowing time to complete the projects that have already been approved. The finials: Max has been trying to do the finials. Gene will see if the bucket truck can reach the finials; Parks/Forestry vehicles can not. Pam thought that the finials at the bottom of the conservatory doors could be done for $1200 each. $2700 would be needed for the mold, and $900 for the re -building. A sculptor could do the work. The finials could be a safety issue. The pathway near the fire circle is eroding and is unstable. Stones are not stabilized and need some help. Max will look through the Art Center list and pick up on any safety issues and will respond back to Peter. Peter will forward the list to Alderman Engelman. There is one firm that does tuckpointing (Berkenheimer?). The flagpole needs to be painted. Resetting the flagpole would cost approximately 51600. The Art Center is not looking for grants to cover any of the cost of repairs, as they do not own the building. In reviewing the need for windows, Max noted that replacement windows would be $1500 - $2000 each costing approximately $100,000. Historic preservation conditions/requirements add to the cost. The Art Center has a grounds committee with Pam Elesh as chairman. Approximately S2,000 a year is available for Landscaping. In discussing the new lease between the Art Center and City of Evanston, the interior of the building is the responsibility of the Art Center, and the exterior responsibility falls to the City of Evanston. Coach House An architect for the Art Center will be discussing the current plant with City of Evanston staff including Carolyn Smith, Fire. and Police representatives. The Art Center Board would pay for the facility changes. The proposed plan would have offices on the 2sd floor and studio space on the ground floor. Neat Meeting The Committee agreed to meet on Wednesday, March 14'h, 2001 at 1:30 PM at the Evanston art Center. Respectively submitted, Linda Lutz