Evanston preservation panel hears Lincolnwood landmark nomination, grants school district a one-month continuance

The Evanston Preservation Commission on the evening it convened opened a public hearing on Case 25PRES0125, a landmark nomination for Lincolnwood Elementary School, heard a detailed nomination presentation and questions, and unanimously granted the property owner’s request to continue the matter until the Commission’s Feb. 10 meeting.

Julia Vaughn, an Evanston resident who led the nomination, argued the school and its campus meet multiple local landmark criteria, including association with notable local figures, distinctive architectural form, and rare neighborhood planning techniques. Vaughn traced the campus’s history from early 20th-century land purchases through neighborhood growth, described a 1941 land swap that preceded construction of the current school in 1950, and noted a 1953 kindergarten addition. She emphasized the site’s cultural landscape ties to Dwight and Lucy Perkins, and highlighted surviving features such as large arched windows and original masonry work. "We are over 600 signatures," Vaughn said, citing online and paper petitions and a letter of support from Friends of the Forest Preserve, and asked the Commission to recommend designation to City Council.

Dr. Stacy Beardsley, representing District 65, thanked Vaughn for the nomination and told the Commission the district had begun a title search that returned incomplete documentation, including historic covenants and deeds the district needs to review. "We were hoping to have it early this month, but the title search company returned it without all of the necessary documents," Beardsley said, and asked the Commission for a one-month continuance so the district could obtain the missing records and determine any constraints that might affect the property owner’s position.

Commissioners questioned aspects of the nomination, including the architect John Veil Tilton’s dates and why the school’s Georgian Revival styling differs from other Tilton designs. Vaughn cited archival sketches and oral testimony and noted that the nomination excludes the adjacent forest preserve and is limited to two parcels.

After deliberation about the relevance of deed restrictions to eligibility review and staff guidance that property owners be afforded time to present testimony and evidence under the preservation ordinance, a commissioner moved to continue consideration of Case 25PRES0125 to the Commission’s regular meeting on Feb. 10. The Commission approved the continuance in a roll-call vote recorded as Ayes from Commissioners Jacobs, Ziem, Cohen, Chair Klein, Hellman, Rizzolo and Johnson — unanimous, 7–0.

Because the Commission continued the item, it will resume deliberation and any formal decision on whether Lincolnwood meets the criteria for landmark designation at the Feb. 10 meeting; if the district still lacks the requested documentation at that time, the Commission indicated it could proceed with deliberation based on the record available then.

Meeting materials cited the preservation ordinance (subsections 2-84(a) and (b)) and referenced Evanston planning documents including the Envision 2045 plan.