Evanston will begin renovating the Leahy Park Fieldhouse in late August, a $210,400 project expected to wrap up by November.

The City Council approved the contract with LZ Design Build Group, a Roselle-based firm, on May 11 via Resolution 93-R-26. The project was competitively bid as Bid 26-21.

The city announced the start of work on Wednesday, Aug. 12, according to a city release carried by Evanston Now. The Evanston Roundtable reported the same timeline: construction beginning in late August and continuing through November.

Funding comes from the city's Capital Improvement Fund, backed by 2025 Project Bonds. The budget line item, designated for "Park Fieldhouse Restrooms (Leahy)," carries a fiscal year 2026 allocation of $300,000, according to the council agenda. The $210,400 contract leaves roughly $89,600 unspent in that allocation.

The scope remains unclear. The council agenda labels the line item as restroom-focused, but the contract itself is titled "Leahy Park Fieldhouse Renovation," suggesting work may extend beyond bathrooms. The full bid documents were not available for review.

The fieldhouse project is one piece of a broader 2026 capital improvement push that also includes the Beck Park expansion, Twiggs Park playground renovations and the Robert Crown solar installation, according to city records. Leahy Park also received tennis court upgrades in 2025 as part of a separate parks court improvement effort.

Whether the fieldhouse will close to the public during the roughly three-month construction window has not been announced.