The Village of Skokie is pleased to announce that Forest City Enterprises (based in Cleveland, Ohio) has purchased the former G.D. Searle Parkway site in downtown Skokie from Pfizer, Inc., and will be redeveloping the property to form the Illinois Technology Innovation Campus. The new complex, which will be built on the 23.4 acre site, will serve as the catalyst in transforming Illinois from a scientific research hub to an economic engine for bioscience technologies. It will also attract high-tech firms to Illinois and further establish the state as a leader in the biotech industry.
This exciting, state-of-the-art campus will result in approximately 3,250 direct jobs in Skokie, at least 1,000 construction-related jobs during the project's development, more than 10,000 additional jobs throughout Illinois, and an estimated $1.8 billion annual increase in statewide economic activity. It is estimated that people employed on the campus will spend $2 million annually in Skokie, just on their lunch hours!
"This is an exciting time for the Village of Skokie," said Mayor George Van Dusen. "We are proud to have this important project in Skokie and anticipate tremendous benefits to our community, neighboring communities and all of Illinois."
The site, purchased for $43 million, currently includes one million square feet of research and office space spread across nine buildings. The redevelopment includes a combination of renovation and new construction, and is expected to take approximately 10 years to complete. Construction is slated to begin soon to revitalize the corporate facility, turning it into a high-tech, multi-tenant research campus with the capacity to expand to meet future demands. To learn more, log on to the Village of Skokie website at www.skokie.org.
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The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University welcomes two new spring exhibits. The first, Currents: 25 Years of Collecting Modern and Contemporary Prints explores how modern and contemporary artists use printmaking to construct personal narratives, offer social commentary and create transcendent aesthetic experiences. The second, Foundations: Old Master and Nineteenth-Century Prints from the Collection, celebrates 25 years of collecting at the Block. The exhibit offers a remarkable sampling of the art of European printmaking over the span of its inception and historic development. Both exhibits run through June 19. For more information, call 847-491-4000 or visit www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu.
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Register today for a unique presentation called, Out and About in Victorian Wilmette, which takes place on Sunday, April 24 at 2:00 p.m. Join Costume Curator Jane Textor as she takes you on a lively ramble through the colorful history of Victorian fashion at its most visible. An exhibit of some remarkable items from the Museum's collection accompanies this program. The fee is $5. The museum is located at 609 Ridge Road.
Take a tour of four outstanding Prairie-style Wilmette homes during Prairie School Design: A Wilmette House Walk, which takes place on Sunday, May 15 from 1- 5p.m. These four homes represent the best in Prairie architecture, by Frank Lloyd Wright, William Drummond, John Van Bergen, and Thomas Talmadge. Tickets for this adult-only event are $40. For more information about either program, call 847-853-7666 or visit www.wilmettehistory.org.
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Piccolo Theatre opens its spring show with Tom Stoppard's one act plays, After Magritte and The Real Inspector Hound at their space in the Evanston Arts Depot. Inspired by the incongruous images of Rene Magritte, After Magritte features a couple and an inspector who find themselves oddly intertwined over a strange encounter and a peculiar domestic scene. In The Real Inspector Hound, two theatre critics find themselves, quite literally, drawn into the action of the play they are critiquing. Performances run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through May 7. Ticket prices are $20. For more information, call 847-424-0089 or visit www.piccolotheatre.com.
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If you are a lover of antiques, you won't want to miss the Antiques Seminar taking place on Saturday, April 23 at the Evanston Historical Society. Four separate sessions will be presented throughout the day beginning at 10a.m. including Antiques Appraisal, A Vice Presidential Collection: Decorative Arts Tour of the Dawes House, Hidden Treasures in Your Attic: How to Evaluate and Appraise Your Antiques and Is It Ever Enough? Refining Your Collection. Individual session fees range from $5-$10. All day registrants receive a $5 discount. A box lunch can be purchased for $10.
The Evanston Historical Society also presents its 30th Annual Mother's Day House Walk on Sunday afternoon, May 8 from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. Starting from The Dawes House, you'll take a leisurely stroll through some of Evanston's loveliest, most historic homes and learn their intriguing stories. Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 on event day.
For more information regarding either of these events, call 847-475-3410 or visit www.evanstonhistorical.org.
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Earth Day celebrations will take place on May Day (Sunday, May 1st) at the Emily Oaks Nature Center in Skokie. A variety of activities for the entire family have been scheduled from 12-4p.m. including a special May Day Party where you'll dance around the May Pole, search for signs of spring, create spring teas and enjoy special arts & crafts projects. There will also be a "Food & Flower" sale and a Village Green Sing-Along. Admission is free. For more information, call 847-674-1500 x 2500 or visit www.skokieparkdistrict.org.
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For 31 years, Bach Week Festival has delighted in bringing a joyous springtime festival of the works of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries to the Chicago area. This year, all concerts will be taking place at the elegant Music Institute of Chicago. Performances will take place Friday, April 29, Sunday, May 1, Friday, May 6 and Sunday, May 8. All concerts begin at 7:30p.m. In addition, two candlelight concerts, featuring solo performers, will be held on Friday, April 29 and Friday, May 6. Those performances begin at 10:30 p.m. For more information, call 847-236-0452 or visit www.bachweek.org.
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Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard is expanding with several news stores opening this spring and summer including Cold Stone Creamery, Liberty Travel, Fossil, Lacoste, Sephora, Sigrid Olsen, and Helzberg Diamonds. Sony is scheduled to open next. There's always loads of excitement at Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard. To learn more, visit www.westfield.com.
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Many thanks to the Preferred Partners who attended the March 18 networking lunch. Business cards and ideas were shared, as alliances were built to work together to promote and market Chicago's North Shore. These networking events are wonderful opportunities to meet industry peers and we encourage you to consider attending. Please note that there will be no networking event on April 21st (because the Evanston Chamber of Commerce will be hosting their Annual Meeting that day).
The CNSCVB's next networking event will be a breakfast on Thursday, May 19 in Evanston from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. (location to be announced in our next newsletter). Please save the date!
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