{"nrhp_refnum":"06000007","name":"Marywood Academy","other_names":["Visitation Academy","Evanston Civic Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2100 Ridge Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Evanston","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.056681081500045,"lon":-87.68807226924996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-02-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story, L-shaped Georgian Revival brick and limestone school building at 2100 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, begun in 1900-1901 as Visitation Academy and enlarged in 1924. Henry J. Schlacks designed the original building for the Sisters of the Visitation; it is now Evanston's Civic Center.","why_significant":"The nomination argues local significance under Criterion A for education, as an all-girls Roman Catholic school and boarding school that operated for about seventy years. It is also significant under Criterion C as a good local example of Georgian Revival architecture, with Classical details and a base, body and crown composition. Criteria Consideration A applies because a religious institution owned it during its period of significance.","narrative":"Marywood Academy, at 2100 Ridge Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, is a four-story Georgian Revival school building of red brick and limestone. Architect Henry J. Schlacks designed the original section for the Sisters of the Visitation, and it opened around 1900-1901. A larger main building by Bohlen and Sons of Indianapolis followed in 1924. The Sisters of Providence bought the school in 1915 and renamed it Marywood. It operated as a Catholic girls' school with boarders until it closed in 1970, and enrollment peaked at 532 in the mid-1960s. It was the only parochial school in Evanston to offer boarding. Its design shows Classical ideals, including a tripartite base, body and crown, polygonal bay towers, a Doric door surround and a carved limestone lunette. The city later acquired the building for its Civic Center. Classrooms became offices and the second-floor chapel became the council chambers. The exterior remains largely intact, and the property was listed for its role in local education and its architecture.","period_of_significance":"Education: 1900-1955; Architecture: 1924","architect_builder":"Schlacks, Henry (1901); Bohlen & Sons (1924) / Foley (1901); Byrne, Barry & Co. (1924)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals: Georgian Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Now used by the City of Evanston as its Civic Center; the exterior is largely unaltered apart from the windows, and classrooms were converted to offices.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.561644-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/8926/28892600/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/06000007.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000007/e63db5a28e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000007/e63db5a28e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evanston_Civic_Center_(Marywood_Academy).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evanston_Civic_Center_(Marywood_Academy).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892600","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marywood_Academy","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24040239"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/marywood-academy-06000007/"}