As work continues on streetscape beautification of the Monmouth public square, the city has received a second state grant to extend the project to the 200 blocks of North and South Main Street.
The city initially received a $3 million Rebuild Illinois grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to revitalize the public square and the blocks leading into it.
Now, Gov. JB Pritzker announced another $1.5 million for the second phase.
City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher said this will extend the same design further south and north. That includes reducing traffic to one lane and adding diagonal parking, along with new curbs, sidewalks, and landscaping.
“It’s going to transform the appearance of downtown for the next generation,” Steinbrecher said. “It'll improve the safety of pedestrians, reduce speed of vehicles, and make the downtown more attractive for people to visit and walk around. Obviously, that's good for business development.”
Steinbrecher said the downtown revitalization dovetails nicely with the city’s façade and commercial building rehab programs, which have resulted in nearly $4 million in private investments to buildings in the downtown district in the last few years.
“Our desire is to make the downtown visually attractive and welcoming for pedestrians and visitors,” he said. “So it's part of an overall economic development strategy.”
Steinbrecher said the contractor is currently working in the third of four quadrants on the initial public square project, with that work expected to be complete by Labor Day.
Then the second phase is expected to go out to bid next spring.
In addition to $4.5 million from the state, the city is contributing $1.2 million in local funds to complete the project.
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