Historic Evanston mansion lease set to go to Artists Book House

Evanston aldermen on Monday gave first approval to a 40-year lease that would allow Artists Book House to move into the historic Harley Clarke mansion.

The item, which was unanimously approved for introduction, will return at a future meeting for final approval.

“We’re excited and humbled and freaked out, and the magnitude of the task is not lost on us,” said author Audrey Niffenegger, Artists Book House founder and president. “We’re amazed that we’re at the starting line here.”

As detailed Monday, the lease would require Artists Book House to pay the city of Evanston $1 per month for the first 10 years, beginning May 10, according to a report from city Management Analyst Tasheik Kerr.

From 2031-41, rent would cost $1,000 per month. From 2041-2051 it would cost $2,000 per month, and from 2051-2061 it would run $3,000 per month, according to the report.

In return, Artists Book House would be required to meet fundraising bench marks of $2 million by May 2022, and $4 million by May 2023, according to the memo. The group will complete renovation work and open to the public in 2026.

The estimated cost to renovate the vacant lakefront mansion is between $6.5 million and $8.6 million, according to the memo.

The group plans to sublease the mansion’s coach house to Jens Jensen Gardens of Evanston, according to the memo.

The Artists Book House is described as “a new educational and cultural organization devoted to the Book Arts.” Those arts include writing, reading, printing, bookbinding, papermaking, typography, calligraphy, poetry, fiction, memoir, artist’s books, comics, zines, publishing, conservation, history, and more, according to the group’s proposal to take over the mansion.

The mansion will be the group’s home and a space for classes, a cafe, library, book shop and studios, among other offerings, according to the plan.

Aldermen selected Artists Book House in March as their choice of four proposals to repurpose the Harley Clarke Mansion. The decision to negotiate a lease comes after years of debate over what to do with the vacant, aging property.

The Harley Clarke mansion sits next to the Evanston lighthouse and is just north of Northwestern University. Over the years, it has been used as a private residence, fraternity headquarters and nonprofit art education center.

The most recent efforts to revitalize the building and turn it into an environmental education center fell through in April 2018 when the City Council voted against a plan from the Evanston Lakehouse and Gardens, saying the nonprofit citizens group had not raised enough money to give aldermen confidence that the plans would be successful.

That followed an effort in 2013 from Evanston resident Jennifer Pritzker to turn the mansion into a boutique bed-and-breakfast hotel.

In November 2018, more than 80% of voters said “yes” on a nonbinding referendum that asked whether the mansion should be preserved at little to no taxpayer expense.

Then in December 2018, Evanston aldermen reversed demolition plans and decided not to appeal a Preservation Commission decision to deny the permit that would have been necessary to tear down the lakefront building.