There was a special meeting of the Village of Utica Board of Trustees last night. Village Engineer Kevin Heitz and Director of Village Affairs Jamie Turczyn made a presentation regarding the 1.25 million dollar Rebuild Downtown and Main Street Grant.
The grant was applied for in August of 2022 and the Village was given the go-ahead to start spending money this August.
The grant will redevelop the plot of land destroyed by the April 20th 2004 tornado, a block just north of downtown Utica between Mill Street and what will become Clark Street extended, and between Church and Grove Street. The block will be called the new Market on Mill Street.
The first order of business will be to lift that block out of the flood plain. The first construction phase will be 12 colorful booths and a concrete walkway stamped to look like wood around a central green.
There will be four separate entrances to the green with the main one being through the current tornado memorial on Church Street. Decorative flat stones will surround the entire Mill Street project. Public restrooms, constructed solely on the Village’s budget, will be added north of the green by the current pumping station.
Mayor David Stewart said the village had a lot of input from the community. One of the key requests was adequate parking. That issue will be addressed by the Village’s acquisition of a parcel of land that was formerly a gas station southwest of the proposed new block. That entire corner will be dedicated to parking and extra parking will be added north of the library on Grove Street.
One member of the public was concerned that the new view from a sidewalk along Mill Street by the current public library, for example, would just be the backs of cookie-cutter shacks. Turczyn addressed that concern saying the back of the shop will each have a decorative window with shutters and a European style flower bed. Turczyn said they got a lot of input on the European styled Berwyn boardwalk.
Heitz said that each booth would have electric and if they sold flowers for example, access to water. Victorian themed strings of light similar to Jordan Block will create a festive light scheme above the green. The rent for each booth is priced more so to cover the cost of heat and electric. The concept is not seen as a money-maker per se but each of the 12 booths being a “business incubator”. It is hoped that after a year they will exit the booth and start or move into a brick and mortar shop in Utica or somewhere in La Salle County. Two of the requirements for shop applicants is they operate at least on weekends from May to December and only sell goods currently not available downtown.
There will be room eventually for 18 booths. In winter it is envisioned the green will become an ice skating rink.
Construction of Mill Street Market is planned for March of 2024 and to be complete by the end of May weather permitting.
An envisioned project design is available to see on the WCMY Facebook page.