Rockford to make streetscape improvements, add decorative lighting outside of BMO Center

December 19, 2023|By Kevin Haas|In 815 News, Local, Rockford, Trending
A block of Main Street between Chestnut and Elm streets will undergo streetscape improvements this spring and summer that includes new sidewalks and decorative lighting. City Council members on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, approved a contract with DPI Construction of Pecatonica to handle the work. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — City Council members on Monday awarded a nearly half-million-dollar contract to revamp the sidewalks and streetscape outside of the BMO Center in downtown.

The project is a continuation of a multiphase plan to create a cohesive, decorative and inviting look to downtown’s Main Street District. The upgrades will look much like they do in the 200 block of Main Street between Mulberry and Jefferson streets, which got new sidewalks, stamped concrete and decorative lighting last year.

The stretch of Main Street between Elm and Chestnut streets will get new picture-frame style sidewalks, stamp-colored decorative concrete behind the curb and decorative streetlights, according to Ken Mattson, the city’s Capital Improvement Plan operations manager. It will also have raised curbs with planters for flowers similar to other stretches of Main Street.

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Aldermen voted unanimously to approve a $452,424 contract with DPI Construction of Pecatonica to make the streetscape improvements before the end of June. They also awarded a $90,505 contract to HR Green of McHenry for construction engineering services.

The Main Street streetscape improvements have been made over several years as part of a downtown strategic action plan the city adopted in 2015. The standout feature are the two picturesque Main Street District archways at Mulberry Street and Elm Street.

Future phases of streetscape improvements will include portions of State Street directly east and west of the Rock River. Next up will be improvements to Main between Jefferson Street and Park Avenue, a block that includes the Coronado Performing Arts Center.

“The schedule on that block is a little up in the air because they’re going to be doing some facade work on the Coronado this coming summer,” Mattson said. “We don’t want be doing both projects at the same time. So either late next year of the following year we’ll be doing that.”

Streetscape improvements were made on Main Street between Jefferson and Mulberry streets last year. Similar improvements are coming to the block of Main outside the BMO Center. The road is shown on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

This article is written by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas