Family Focus leadership discussed the timeline for building renovations at a Thursday meeting. 

Currently located at 2010 Dewey Ave., Family Focus provides early childhood development programs and after-school care, among other family services. The organization received $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding last July from City Council to renovate its building.

Built in 1905, the building originally served as the Foster School, a predominantly Black school in Evanston’s 5th Ward. After the school closed, Family Focus began leasing the building in 1983 and has since purchased it. 

The goal of the renovations is to honor the legacy of the Foster School, Family Focus CFO Dottie Johnson said. She said upgrades to Family Focus are part of a vision to build collaboration with the city and a new 5th Ward school. Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is currently working on plans to build a neighborhood school next to Family Focus.

Dottie Johnson said Family Focus has funding and is planning to start construction in 12 to 18 months, with an anticipated June 2026 finish.

After the construction, the exterior walls of the Family Focus building will remain the same, Dottie Johnson said, to preserve the building’s historical significance and honor the legacy of the Foster School. 

The first phase of the project will focus on the infrastructure of the building, including bathroom maintenance and utilities, according to Keisha Johnson, who’s helping manage the project for Cotter Consulting.

Family Focus Center Director Vanessa Allen said the bathrooms are the first issue people cite when discussing the renovation project.

She also said she hopes the building’s boiler system will be updated. 

“It can be extremely hot in the summertime and extremely hot in the wintertime,” Allen said. “Most of us have to keep our windows open no matter how cold it is outside because it’s so terrible in here.” 

In addition to infrastructure updates, meeting attendees said the ARPA funds should also go toward improving the program spaces at Family Focus, such as the community closet and computer room. 

Allen said the computer room needs new technology and the building needs a better internet connection.

“It’s about bringing our building into the 21st century and bringing our programs into the 21st century,” Allen said. 

Keisha Johnson said the community needs to identify which Family Focus programs are most valuable. Then, the organization can determine what infrastructure should be addressed first. 

“Everything is possible when you have an open checkbook, and, you know, that’s not the case,” Keisha Johnson said. “This project will not be able to do everything for everybody.” 

Mudlark Theater Artistic Director Andrew Biliter said he would like to see Family Focus renovate the building’s auditorium. He suggested upgrading the lighting and sound systems and making the space more accessible for people with physical disabilities. 

Biliter said Mudlark Theater put on a play in 2020 called “Concerning Foster,” which told the history of the Family Focus building and the desegregation of Evanston schools. Mudlark Theater initially wanted to use the Family Focus auditorium, but Biliter said its facilities were not sufficient for a full-scale production. 

He hopes, with the renovations, Family Focus can be a community centerpiece for youth theater. 

“It’s such a gem of a theater space,” Biliter said. “With so much history and importance, it could be a venue for people to come and see theater, music and dance here in the 5th Ward.”

Dottie Johnson said improving the Family Focus building and programs is especially important now because of plans to build the new 5th Ward school nearby. She said she expects more children and families to use the Family Focus building and programs once the school opens. 

“The number of children we are seeing right now is just a microcosm,” Dottie Johnson said. “So we want to make sure that we can service all the children and families in the best way possible.”

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Twitter: @rschlueter26

Related Stories: 

— Family Focus requests $3 million in ARPA funds from Housing and Community Development Committee

— From Foster to Family Focus: More than a century of District 65 decisions in the 5th Ward

— Evanston Organizes: Family Focus provides long-standing sense of community in 5th Ward