Evanston’s City Council took the right step last week in seeking federal funding to study Evanston’s Lake Michigan shoreline. 
They hope that U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston can eventually secure $100,000 for the study, which would evaluate the hEvanston lakefront’s suitability for a marina, most likely off the South Boulevard Beach. 
A marina could prove to be a major source of revenue for Evanston. The city currently operates only a boat ramp, and the nearest marinas are in Chicago’s Montrose Harbor and in Wilmette. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would analyze whether sufficient demand exists for a recreational boat harbor, and their study also would consider the environmental impact of such a facility. 
If a marina development eventually proves worthwhile after the study’s completion, the city must move carefully because of residential concerns about parking, traffic and density that inevitably will arise. 
So far at least, aldermen appear highly sensitive to those issues. As 3rd Ward Alderman Melissa A. Wynne said last week, “We cannot have a marina if it is going to make the congestion or density worse in any way.” 
The subject has come up in prior decades. City officials trace interest in a marina back to 1966, when the idea was evaluated but then shelved. By no means is a marina a done deal for Evanston this time around, but city officials are at least on the right track by taking first steps toward reviving the idea.