Robert Crown Community Center 

The Robert Crown Community Center completely transforms an existing 15-acre park and community facility, reorganizing and expanding outdoor and indoor programming to create an integrated park and building. After a decade of analysis and program review, the City of Evanston — 12 miles north of Chicago and home to 75,000 people — elected to replace its 1975 ice rink and community center with an entirely new facility that would aggregate active and passive recreation and wellness activities. 

The building contains a twin-pad arena with seating for 1,100 spectators, a running track, a landscaped courtyard, a library, a childcare area, fitness and community rooms, and a gymnasium — all organized around a central public area. The project prioritizes park space, and the facility has a reduced footprint through the placement of major program areas on the second floor. The elevated gym provides panoramic views of the park and forms a generous canopy for the main building entrance. The public zone at the center of the building is polyvalent — a place from which primary activities can be viewed, but which can also be occupied by adjacent program areas spilling into it. 

This project delivers on Evanston’s vision for the RCCC to be “a place for everyone,” with a design that integrates a broad spectrum of community wellness and competitive opportunities, both inside and out. It shows how, through careful design, a large-scale project with multivalent amenities can be sensitively introduced into a residential neighborhood and become a vital center for a diverse community.

ARCHITECT OF RECORD

Woodhouse Tinucci Architects

Chicago, Ill.

ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT

MJMA Architecture & Design

Toronto, Ont.

PROJECT VENDORS