Brief History
A Brief History of Conflict & Litigation over Use of NU Athletic Facilities
1900's - 2023
Early 1900 -- Evanston residents were upset when NU first proposed building athletic stands in a residential neighborhood. “Records of the City show public hearings and [residents] objecting”.
1950s -- Cardinals pro football team repeatedly asks to use Dyche Stadium for their games. Proposals defeated
1955 -- IL Supreme Court finds that “the use of [a parcel on Central Street] for residential purposes was adversely affected by its location, being subjected to the unfavorable influence of Dyche Stadium and the athletic field” which produced “much congestion, noise and confusion” whenever major events were held.
1969 -- Illegal tennis tournament at McGaw Hall.
1970 -- Illegal tennis tournament at McGaw Hall. City sues NU
1970 -- Bears sue City to enforce contract with NU to play Philadelphia Eagles at Dyche Stadium.
Bears’ attorney cites previous tennis tournaments as precedent. Game is played.
1971 -- City of Evanston enacts zoning ordinance prohibiting pro sports and commercial business operations on NU property. Ordinance is adopted after residents complain about crowds, noise & traffic jams following the Bears game. Spokesman for St. Athanasius states that allowing further such games would force them to cancel religious services during the games
-- City sues NU in an attempt to halt a scheduled professional tennis match.
-- NU applies for a variation to permit professional tennis matches to be played at McGaw Hall. NU’s attorney cites the Bears game as precedent for such a variation.
1973 -- Rock concerts at McGaw Hall (including Rod Stewart and The Grateful Dead). City warns NU that it is violating zoning regulations that prohibit commercial business operations on University-owned land.
1974 -- City denies request to play week-long Virginia Slims ladies tennis tournament at McGaw Hall.
1975 -- NU sues City seeking to allow a professional NBA game in fieldhouse in October 1975 and to hold City’s zoning unconstitutional. Injunction is denied; game is cancelled and suit is dismissed.
-- NU applies to ZBA for variation to use Dyche Stadium and McGaw for professional athletic contests or other commercial purposes. Also seeks amendment of the zoning ordinance before the ZAC to permit a wide variety of commercial and non-commercial activities. NU cites as precedent previous commercial events that took place at the stadium and fieldhouse.
1976 -- NU sues City seeking to declare Evanston Zoning Ordinance unconstitutional, lift the city’s zoning ban against all professional and commercial events in McGaw Hall & Dyche and permit the Chicago Sting to play a soccer game at Dyche Stadium. This suit marks the 5th time that NU and Evanston have gone to court about the ordinance.
-- 2nd Horse Show to be held at Dyche Stadium is stopped by court after lawsuit by neighbors alleging that first horse show left giant piles of manure on grounds for days after event ended.
-- Evanston city council denies NU’s 1975 petition for an amendment & application for a variation
to allow pro sports in the U2 District. Businesses on Central Street report “if they are open during any kind of activity at Dyche[] Stadium, they are sure to lose money.” It is also noted that continued commercial activities “around the university facility could also be reflected in [decreased] sales prices and *** the assessed valuation” of the nearby residential property, which is an “important part of the tax [base] in Evanston and Wilmette.”
1977 -- Circuit court stops World Team Tennis match from being played at McGaw Hall.
--Evanston City Council denies NU’s 1971 application for variation to permit professional tennis matches to be played at McGaw Hall, finding that the variation would:
1) Increase the intensity of the use so as to detract from the essential character of the surrounding residential neighborhood;
2) Be injurious to and depreciate the value of nearby property and other improvements in the neighborhood due to increased traffic congestion, pedestrian traffic, noise, and litter, all of which would be an unavoidable consequence of the proposed intensification of use; and
3) Increase the danger of fire and public safety by making it more difficult for emergency vehicles to carry out their functions.
1978 -- Bears use Dyche Stadium for practice on several occasions in 1977. City of Evanston tells NU that this is not acceptable and asks for cooperation in enforcing the City’s zoning ordinance.
-- IL Supreme Court decision upholds City’s right to regulate itself through its zoning ordinances and its ban on professional sports in the U-2 District. Also declares there is a substantial difference between amateur and professional athletic events. Achieving this outcome has cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
1982 -- NU applies to ZBA for special use to permit a musical performance at Dyche Stadium in May 1982, attendance limited to 25,000. ZBA and City Council deny the special use permit, based in part on the mayhem and injuries that occurred at 1972 Spring Thing concert
1984 -- Illegal volleyball match (US Olympic Team vs Brazilian National Team) played at McGaw Hall. NU’s attorney writes to the Planning Board on January 7, 1985: “The Athletic Department representatives who knew about the event felt that it would not be in violation of the zoning ordinance.” The City responds: “the athletic event in question falls outside of the permitted uses... The subject activity was clearly not intramural or intercollegiate. The City finds no ambiguity in the zoning ordinance…. [I]t is expected that no further repetition of such violation will take place.”
1996 -- IMG seeks to amend Evanston Zoning Ordinance to allow Ameritech’s professional indoor tennis events for a maximum of 7 consecutive days as a special use in the U-2 zoning district. Asked whether NU is seeking to expand the uses of the Welsh-Ryan Arena to include professional events, NU’s director of athletic facilities and operations says, “No. … NU is not in the business of generating revenue with their buildings.” After substantial resident and business input, City Council ultimately denies proposed amendment.
-- NU rents the west parking lot to Mercedes Benz to showcase and test their latest luxury cars all along the border of the lot. Evanston issues a warning letter to NU about the Zoning Ordinance violation and states that “Failure to remedy this situation will result in the Zoning Administrator issuing a citation”.
2016 -- Plan Commission approves NU baseball scoreboard in U-2 District over objections by Wilmette residents along Isabella over the scoreboard’s size & illumination, and the decibel level of the PA system.
2019 -- NU seeks zoning amendment allowing it to hold professional sports and commercial events in the U-2 District, and to sell liquor in arena. After intense community opposition, proposal is passed as a 2-year pilot expiring on 12/31/21, for Welsh-Ryan Arena only; NU pledges it will not seek to expand commercial entertainment to the stadium. Pilot never implemented due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 -- City rejects both attempts by NU to extend the pilot.
2023 -- As part of stadium rebuild, NU again seeks zoning change, this time to allow up to 10 concerts of new stadium capacity (35,000) and unlimited commercial events of up to 10,000 attendees per year; also seeks to sell alcohol in stadium.
If NU’s proposals are approved, NU will always use that PRECEDENT to argue for more:
bigger attendance limits, more days of events, more dining/drinking/other business inside its facilities. Say NO to NU now!
Below is the power-point of the Short History presented to the City [ link to to be corrected]