The plan to renovate Chandler Park in downtown Macomb is on pause while the city lines up funding for it.
The Chandler Park Master Plan unveiled in Dec. 2024 estimated the project would cost $3.2 million.
Mayor Mike Inman said the city is pursuing grants through the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program and the state’s Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development program. But he said the Chandler Park renovations would be eligible for only up to $600,000 through OSLAD.
“We would be grateful to receive that, but that’s maybe a fifth of the overall cost of redeveloping that,” he said.
As a result, Tax Increment Finance District and Business Development District funds from the city might also be necessary.
“The city administrator’s been tasked with looking for those other funds. What we want to stay away from is our general fund if possible, but there’s a very strong possibility we might have to use some general fund dollars to make this happen,” the mayor said.
He said the city will also search for other grants.
Inman said the city hoped the project could be done next year, but now it’s more likely to be done in 2028.
Among other things, the city plans to change the park’s layout to make it more user-friendly, and it plans to remove the gazebo and replace it with a performance shelter.
The city also plans to purchase new playground equipment for the park. The city council this week agreed to hire Cunningham Recreation as the vendor.
City Administrator Scott Coker said they’ll be replacing equipment that’s 15-to-20 years old.
“It’s end of life, and it gets used extensively,” Coker said. “This is also designed to be ADA-friendly and multi-generational.”
Ward 2 council member John Vigezzi said he heard from a resident who questioned spending $275,000 on playground equipment.
“This is a quality-of-life issue. We don’t charge to use our parks. We’re not Disney World,” Vigezzi said during Monday’s city council meeting. “The parks don’t make money, but we’re putting in something that people will use.”
The city is now also looking to put in new sidewalks across the street from the park along Randolph, Carroll, and Lafayette streets. Inman said they would have the same window pane design as the sidewalks on the courthouse square and would be ADA compliant.
The city council this week approved spending $187,600 for the design phase of the project.
Improvements completed on the square and along West Adams Street were partially funded by ITEP grants. Inman said those projects would tie in with the proposed new sidewalks.
“We feel this bodes well for us in the overall review and likely makes us a strong candidate,” he said.
The new sidewalks would be an additional cost not included in $3.2 million estimated for the park renovations.
Chandler Park has been part of downtown Macomb for more than a century.
Macomb businessman C.V. Chandler donated the site to the city, and the park was established in 1893.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department, please consider making a financial contribution.
