Evanston’s Harley Clarke Mansion opens for Halloween

Emerson's Harley Clark mansion has been closed for about 10 years. This weekend, it is open to trick-or-treaters. Scott Henry leads the group, restoring it. He joins us now. Thanks for being with us this afternoon on The Loop. Happy early Halloween. Same to you. So, Scott, if I walk in tonight with my kid, I don't have any kids, but if someone were to walk in tonight with their kid, what will they see? Well, if you came around mid-afternoon, say 3 o'clock, you'd see live entertainment, you'd see activity, a lot of kid events. We're doing trick-or-treating from 4 to 8, live music for the whole time, and then at 8 o'clock... Yeah, that's when the real party starts. We'll have more of an adult party with our boo garden with our beer and so forth. So it's going to be a lot of fun. I get it. Boo garden. I like that. How did the haunted house idea come about? Well, you know, Halloween happens to be my favorite holiday of the year. We're developing this mansion into a venue space, won't be open until early 2028. But in the meantime, we've had fun with it and we thought we'd do a real mind-blowing Halloween party for the community. By the way, because the kids want to know these things, what's in the candy bowl this year? Oh my goodness. Well, if you remember back in the day, the Clark bars, Harley Clark is spelled with an E at the end, so we modified the packaging a little bit, but the teens that come dressed in costume get a king-size Clark bar. Okay. I love a good wordplay. The museum, I mentioned, has been closed for about 10 years. What does it feel like to open the doors again? It's so exciting. I mean, getting involved in this project and all the little surprises that came out of it, you know, we're doing our due diligence. We found secret rooms. We found secret pre-prohibition recipes for cocktails. And it's just been a super exciting experience just getting to know the mansion and then develop what it's going to be. And now we get to share that excitement by giving the folks in the community a glimpse of what's inside and kind of share the story of what it's going to be. I can hear the excitement in your voice. Tell us a little bit about the background of the house. Who built it? so harley clark actually had a connection to fox oh uh he was um yeah he was a utility magnet back in the 20s this house was built in 1927. he got involved with uh fox and and hollywood movies and uh the 30s and then sort of lost it all in the great depression um this the house was sold at some point to um a fraternity at uh at the university here And then it's been a mix of different uses, including like an art, an artist, like teaching facility and things like that. But by and large, it's been kind of underutilized for the last 20 years. So we're here to change that. It's it's going to be pretty mind blowing. We'll have to have you when we're done. All right. What's the oldest thing I'll find? What's the oldest thing still inside the house? Well, the oldest thing would. Actually, I mean, that's a great question. Before there was a mansion here... There's a pretty special boulder in the backyard that overlooks Lake Michigan, and it was a sacred area for the indigenous people, of Potawatomies that lived here. So we still have folks from that group that come every year to celebrate that space. So I'd say that's probably the oldest thing, but everything else originates from the late 20s. I keep looking because that little zombie thingy that's over your left shoulder, I feel like its head is moving and I don't know if the head's supposed to be moving, so I'm getting creeped out. Let me ask you, is there one room you hope people notice in the house? Well, I tell you what, the basement is the old billiards room and that's where we're going to have a speakeasy and we'll have a secret door that gets you in down there, but it's already So special down there with cool arches and gothic fireplaces with a little bit more work. It will turn it into someplace really special, perfect for a speakeasy. So that's where I'm probably going to hang out. All right. Speaking of work, I'm curious, what's the hardest part of fixing a house this old? Well, this is what we do. We're in the historic adaptive reuse space. We deal with buildings that are in far worse condition. This is kind of a dream. But I think the hardest thing about any project like this is doing the homework up front. A lot of people have trouble down the line if they don't do that homework. There's a lot of hidden conditions. So we spend a ton of time. Looking inside the walls, doing destructive demolition so that by the time we actually start construction, we know where all the surprises are, our budgets are sized accordingly, our contractors are ready for it. And that means it gets done, it gets done predictably, and we don't have scheduled delays. Sorry, it was a little bit of a nerdy response, but it's a good question. No, we love it. We love it. I know, too, a lot of people in Evanston have strong feelings about this house. What are you hearing from them? Well, I mean, I'll be honest with you, there was a movement a number of years ago to tear the building down. And through the work of friends of Harley Clark, thankfully, they convinced the city to not do that. There are a lot of people concerned. People typically can be suspicious of developers, of what their real intentions are. So, you know, we've really spent a lot of time working with the community to show them what we really are planning to do. All summer we've had events. We had a Clarktoberfest, we had dog yoga, we've got a beer garden. We've really been giving back to the community, inviting the community to, and I, you know, the naysayers, believe me, there were the naysayers here. Many of them have come back and said, Scott, we get it. We get what you're doing. Thank God you're saving this mansion. We love it. That must be good to hear for you. I heard as well that the mansion is actually haunted, given the age. What kind of things are we talking about? Like doors opening up by themselves, creaky floors, a clock that goes off at weird times? Well, you know, I think... Everybody likes to let their imagination run wild. I will tell you that I've had some strange experiences in there. We've had an experience recently, it was two days ago, where lights went on and off unexplainably. I like to joke with people saying there's some forbidden words you can't say or else the real ghosts come out. Oh, no. But that's not true. We're just having fun with it. No, I don't think it's haunted. Okay. It's easy to get carried away with it. All right, well, it sounds like you've got some great things planned for the kids and the grown-ups this weekend. Best of luck with all the events, and keep us updated on the progress. You know, you said you didn't have kids. You've got still your inner child, right? Come on out. I can bring my nephew. He's a little tougher than me when it comes to these freaky things. Thank you, sir.