Bono Consulting assisted a local developer in the adaptive reuse of the former two-story Sojourner Covenant Church, a project that incorporates cultural and historic heritage preservation.. The Bono team prepared the site plans to convert this 100-year-old church into a new 22-unit apartment building.
A four-story addition was added to the rear of the building which extended to the boundary of the lot lines. The site required stormwater detention to comply with the City of Evanston’s stormwater ordinance. There is a 5,000-cubic-foot concrete stormwater detention vault under the slab of the parking garage, with all roof drains routed to the vault. The restricted flow discharge from the detention vault meets up with the sanitary flow from the building for a single connection to the City’s combined sewer.
Due to the City of Evanston’s moratorium on opening the street during winter, it was discovered during construction that a ComEd concrete duct bank was in the way of the proposed sewer connection. Bono Consulting coordinated with the contractor, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), and the City of Evanston, to find an alternative solution. This included placing the combined service under the city sidewalk for 125 feet. It was at this distance that the ComEd concrete duct bank changed grades and Bono Consulting was able to have the sewer cross over the duct. The building’s conversion has been completed and apartments are currently available for occupancy.
