Historic Renovation · Evanston, IL
Varsity Theater
Evanston
Converting a 1926 landmark into 35 residential units — complex framing, on-site prefabrication, and precision coordination within a century-old structure.
Historic Renovation · Evanston, IL
Converting a 1926 landmark into 35 residential units — complex framing, on-site prefabrication, and precision coordination within a century-old structure.
The Varsity Theater opened in Evanston in 1926 as a neighborhood movie palace. Nearly a century later, its bones were structurally sound but its interior needed to be completely reimagined — converting the original single-volume theater space into 35 modern residential units while preserving its historic character.
The Edge Construction Co. was brought in to handle the metal stud framing, drywall, and prefabricated assembly scopes across the entire building. Working within an existing 97-year-old structure — with original timber roof trusses, clay brick bearing walls, and century-old wood floors underfoot — required a precision and care that generic production framing simply can't deliver.
One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects: our prefabrication shop pre-built wall assemblies and stair components off-site, then staged them on the Evanston street for same-day installation. The result was a dramatically faster installation cycle without any of the fit issues that arise from trying to build complex assemblies from scratch inside a constrained historic floor plate.
Work With UsHistoric Structure Integration
New framing coordinated with original 1926 timber trusses, brick bearing walls, and structural elements that had to remain undisturbed.
Street-Side Prefabrication Staging
Pre-built assemblies staged on the street and craned in — reducing on-site cutting, waste, and installation time across 35 units.
Precision Layout in Constrained Space
Laser layout established control lines across irregular floor plates — ensuring unit walls aligned correctly floor to floor in a non-uniform structure.
Multi-Scope Coordination
Framing, drywall, and prefab scopes all managed under one contract — single point of accountability for the GC on a complex, phased project.
Project Photography
From raw demolition through framing completion — 25+ photos documenting the full scope.
