Donors, elected officials and school district officials gathered Wednesday for a groundbreaking to celebrate the start of Evanston Township High School’s Arts and Innovation Wing expansion.
To be built facing the south side of ETHS, the Arts and Innovation Wing is expected to cost $48 million. The project is funded by the Evanston Township High School Foundation, and has already raised $23.5 million, according to Jeff Hammock, the foundation’s head of alumni relations.
“While the scope of the project continues to evolve, it’s really focused on renovating and creating new spaces that will support student learning in the arts and also career exploration,” Reine Hanna, the district’s director of communications, told Pioneer Press.
Construction at ETHS began earlier this summer, but the July 24 groundbreaking was a ceremony to recognize donors and ETHS employees.
“I just want to thank you all for being here for this historic occasion,” Superintendent Marcus Campbell said to a crowd of about 70 people, as temperatures soared. “I know it’s hot, but it’s important. This is historic. We’ve not built a new theater since 1958. So we are definitely making a historic investment today.”
The Foundation began its work to raise funds for the expansion in early 2024, according to Hammock. “We’re about 18 months-ish in, and thrilled to be where we’re at, sitting here on the cusp of 50% [funded],” he said.
Earlier in April, the school board approved $2.5 million for the first phase of construction to the wing, which will include a new orchestra space, a black box style theater and an extended hallway for the first phase of approved bids.
So far, the biggest funder of the expansion is ETHS alumnus and healthcare executive Leonard Schaeffer, according to Hammock. ETHS’ school board approved a $7 million commitment from Schaeffer in January. The school plans to name its upgraded auditorium the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for the Performing Arts when construction is complete.
Other big donors include the Lewis-Sebring Foundation, which donated $2.5 million to the project. The school will name a gallery in its honor, Hanna said.
The Foundation aims to reach its goal of $48 million by the end of 2028, Hammock said, and its biggest donors are typically alumni.
“We’ve got three and a half years to go, and the only way we’re gonna get there is by engaging our base that ETHS is in a strong place… we have 60,000 alumni across the world,” Hammock said.
Both Schaeffer and the Lewis-Sebring foundation have donated to ETHS before, he added.
Schaeffer, who graduated in the class of 1963, talked about why he made his $7 million commitment to ETHS at the groundbreaking.
“My parents moved to Evanston when I was at the end of sixth grade,” Schaeffer said. “And that changed my life and created the possibility of my career. The combination of teachers, the education I received here, the fellow students that I met and the families of those students opened up a range of possibilities that I never considered and never knew existed. I never thought I would go to an Ivy League school, but ETHS got me into Princeton, and frankly, got me through Princeton.”
“I am grateful to ETHS. I don’t have to have parties like this where I am being told what a wonderful guy I am,” Schaeffer said. “I would like to continue to support ETHS so that more people can have the experience that I’ve had.”
“I don’t see this as generosity. I see this as paying back to Evanston a tiny bit of what it gave me. And I’m really happy to be involved in this effort.”
Ahead of potentially turbulent financial times with tariffs on imports affecting construction costs, the district is constantly assessing and reevaluating the project’s scope, Hanna said.
“We’re optimistic, and we’re focused on reaching that $48 million mark,” she said. “Obviously, there are circumstances which we’re accounting for that might require us exceeding that amount. But for now, we’re just focused on hitting that $48 million mark and we’re confident that the support of our community is going to get us through the finish line.”