Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series in an attempt to answer questions from community members, local businesses and visitors about the city’s vision for downtown Evanston and city-owned property.

EVANSTON — Will downtown Evanston remain an eyesore with empty, locked buildings? Besides a lack of financial investments, what other reasons keep businesses from coming to downtown Evanston? Can the city force owners of closed and dilapidated buildings to improve them? What is being done about the limited parking on Main Street? Why does the city own so much property; is it in the real estate business?  

These questions and others brought up by residents, business owners and visitors alike prompted the Herald to try to find answers.

Tib Ottley of Uinta Realty, who is also a city councilman, is handling marketing of the recently emptied Schofield building on the corner of Front and 10th streets. The building has 1,500 square feet plus a full basement, and Ottley admits it would take a sizable investment to improve and remodel. The four brothers who now own the building have recently reduced the price to $399,000; however, Ottley said commercial demand is slim in Evanston and most interested parties want to just lease, not purchase. He said another drawback to businesses in downtown Evanston is there’s limited parking that’s easily accessible.

The second building Uinta Realty handles is the Optique 20/20 building at 701 Front Street. Retailers are more interested in this building, as it has its own parking lot and is ready for occupation, Ottley said.

He said some of the drawbacks to recruiting businesses to Evanston are the lack of jobs that are above minimum wage, harsh winters, lack of trained employees and the mental block people have toward Wyoming itself; that it is isolated with few amenities. 

“It is a hard sell to convince people that it is an easy commute to Utah,” Ottley said, “even though it is only an hour away and much better than the commute from Cheyenne to Denver. “We need a trade or tech school in Evanston and the old State Hospital buildings would be perfect. But there is a lot of competition for tech schools — everyone wants them. ... We don’t have the education to prepare students for a tech school.  A trade school would be great here and would provide opportunities for our young people. However, the previous Wyoming legislature has not supported a trade school here. We’ll see if that changes with the newly elected people.”

Michael Eastman of RE/MAX Realty agreed with Ottley in expressing a desire to see a trade school in the old State Hospital buildings. He said a trade school would create jobs and a trade route to other states in producing a supply of trained workers.

“The state can’t ignore us,” Eastman said, adding that the State Hospital does not require their highest paid workers to live in Evanston. “That doesn’t help Evanston because their money is going where they live, there is no trickle down into our economy from the highest paid.”

Eastman said perception is the key to marketing commercial properties.

“There has to be a reason for people to come downtown,” he said. “Convenience is an issue, and people will not park a block away if there is little to draw them. You see people parking quite a distance away from the front doors of Walmart and not minding the walk because they know they can get most of what they need there. For instance, when they park at Depot Square or by the old post office, there isn’t enough diversity of shopping to cause them to want to walk a block or two to Main Street or Front Street.

“In looking at other small towns that have strong retail business, such as Laramie and Jackson, they have found a niche market and have promoted that. This way they are not competing with malls and super stores,” Eastman said.

He said most of the empty buildings in downtown Evanston are in need of remodeling or renovation or are too large for what people want for a small business. Most commercial operations want to be where the highest traffic count is, and Eastman said that is near Walmart. He said he thinks that eventually, all of the area from Front and 1st streets over to Evanston Middle School will be commercial development.  

“It only makes sense that business wants to be where there is convenient and ample parking available, high traffic count and enough space to meet their needs,” Eastman said.

He said he sees Evanston as being in a desperate time, as there has been no growth in the community in years and he would like to see the city and county work together to create synergy and a plan for improving infrastructure. 

At the city council work session on Jan. 22, the Herald brought the same questions to the mayor and city council members.

Evanston City Attorney Dennis Boal agreed with Eastman regarding the issue of growth in the community.

“The biggest problem right now is there is flat growth and revenues are flat,” Boal said.

Mayor Kent Williams said, “We would love to have as vibrant a community as anywhere. I don’t think we have any goal to stave off any business as long as they maintain health, safety and values. We have as friendly a business atmosphere downtown as anywhere.”

City council members mentioned the positive improvements to downtown Evanston — the new street lights, signage, the trees and the flowers. They also brought up the complaints that many businesses are not open during Main Street activities, some have inconsistent hours, and there are parking issues. Also discussed was the fact that big box stores and online shopping have contributed to the loss of retail business. It was mentioned that small business owners may need to rethink their hours of operation and work together to find a niche that will draw people downtown.  

Councilman Ottley suggested that the Urban Renewal Agency could get involved and educate and assist small business owners with the possibility of available grants for improving their buildings and businesses.

In an earlier interview with Jane Law of the Urban Renewal Agency (URA), Law said that several years ago the URA tried to pass mandatory design laws, similar to what Jackson and Park City already have. The design requirements would have to go through Planning and Zoning and then to a panel of peers for guidance, but the plan was defeated before it even got that far.  

Law said that she felt the biggest problem was a huge misunderstanding about the impact on citizens and their homes if the law went into effect. Because the city has no formal design laws, it cannot force property owners to do improvements on empty and deteriorating buildings, even in downtown Evanston.

When a possible design ordinance was mentioned to the city council, the majority of council members said they are not in favor of adopting a set standard of design requirements.

“We do have goals, and Planning and Zoning has been conducting meetings with the community and business owners to review ordinances,” Mayor Williams said. “We know there is room for change as a lot of those ordinances were written many years ago. It is different now, and things have changed. From my perspective, we need to be as open to businesses as we can possibly be, and we’re working to that end. But my perspective is we need to protect private property rights, so it is difficult for the city to come in and say what can and can’t be done with private property.”

All the council members agreed that solving downtown issues all comes down to money and protecting private property rights.