Midwest Young Artists Conservatory’s (MYAC) goal of building a place for its classical musicians to perform for the public was dealt a significant blow when the Highwood Planning & Zoning Commission recommended that the City Council deny the request.
Rather than persuading a majority of the six-member City Council to approve the request for a planned unit development (PUD) within the former Ft. Sheridan, MYAC will need a super-majority of two-thirds of the council members — four votes.
The Commission voted 7-1 against recommending the PUD allowing MYAC an expanded commercial use on Wednesday, following a seven-hour public hearing that spanned two days at Oak Terrace Elementary School, where dozens spoke against it and only a few urged approval.
Assistant Highwood City Manager Marc Facchini said he anticipates the City Council will vote on whether to approve or deny the PUD request in July. He does not know whether it will be at the July 7 or July 21 meeting.
An array of speakers criticized a modern-esque four-story concert hall around older military structures—many built over a century ago—converted into residences in 1998. They said it would diminish property value, cause flooding, and bring heavy traffic.
“This is causing anxiety and anguish,” Jennifer Garber, a resident living near the proposed concert hall, said. “Some of this area often floods. What’s going to happen when there’s a 30-foot hole,” she added, referring to the excavation.
One of the old buildings is MYAC’s current conservatory. It was the one-time stockade — military prison — of the then-Ft. Sheridan. MYAC hopes to build its adjacent concert hall there to give its musicians a place to perform, creating a music school campus, according to city documents.
If approved, the music hall will accommodate an audience of 728 people and a stage big enough to support a symphony orchestra, according to MYAC CEO Allen Dennis. The plan indicates there will be 18 full-capacity concerts a year and other events with smaller audiences.
Though the school and proposed concert hall are located Highwood, the residences in the former Ft. Sheridan are located in both Highland Park and Highwood. Walter Hainsfurther, an architect and Highland Park resident, said traffic issues will go beyond the area around the venue.
“The traffic study does not consider feeder streets,” Hainsfurther said. “It will create added traffic on Half Day Road, Old Elm Road and the feeder streets.”
Alison Wertheimer, a longtime real estate agent living in the Highwood portion of the former fort, said in a letter written to Highwood City Manager Scott Coren that construction of the concert hall will change the character of the neighborhood and could impact home values.
“Homeowners would be faced with the very real and potentially significant decrease in their home values due to the arrival of a large commercial property, in a unique residential neighborhood, that had been built and preserved around the principle of ‘no commercial’ within the Fort property,” Wertheimer said.
Susan Merdinger, an award-winning classical pianist and Highland Park resident, said her children studied music at MYAC and grew from the experience. She said the concert hall will benefit the entire community.
“Music is a community asset. Children who engage and learn music benefit intellectually,” Merdinger said. “What we’re seeing here is a classic NIMBY,” she added referring to an acronym meaning not in my backyard.
Mariah DiGrino, an attorney with DLA Piper representing MYAC, said the conservatory is a school which is a permitted use in a residential area. The concert hall will be an addition to its existing campus. The school has been in its present location for approximately 30 years.
“It is not a commercial use,” DiGrino said. “It’s performance space at a school. It’s a permitted use. The proposed project is a specific use. This is the fulfillment of a dream and will benefit the City of Highwood.”
MYAC founder and President Allen Dennis said the concert hall is needed because locations where the school’s orchestra has performed in the past—Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall are becoming less and less available.
