ROCHELLE — The City of Rochelle has begun work on its downtown project that will include the reconstruction of seven parking lots, the addition of two new parking lots, the construction of a pavilion structure with bathrooms, a stage and storage; and undergrounding of overhead utilities.

City Community Development Director Michelle Pease said a new parking lot at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Lincoln Highway has new curb and gutter and is ready for asphalt. The city recently purchased and demolished a former bank drive up building on the property. The parking lot at Cherry Avenue and North Main Street also has seen new curb and gutter and is ready for asphalt. On April 21, the city began reconstruction work on the parking lot at West 4th Avenue and North 6th Street. Asphalt will be poured in the parking lots to finish them on or after May 7 when asphalt companies open.

The city has yet to go out for bids for its second contract of downtown work, which will likely include the reconstruction of the parking lots off North Main Street, the construction of a new parking lot on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Washington Street, and the construction of the pavilion structure at the north end of the North Main Street parking lots.

“Contract two has not been bid out and we're still finalizing what that will consist of,” Pease said. “I'm hoping to get that in front of the city council at the end of May or beginning of June for that bid to go out. The work would take place as soon as we can get the bid approved.”

When that work takes place, the utility undergrounding project in the alley from the post office south to 4th Avenue will also take place. City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said the closure of the alley will be the only disruption from the work and that the city will be working with area businesses to make sure they still have access points.

The city recently purchased and demolished a home east of the Rochelle Fire Department station to construct a new parking lot that will be used by RFD personnel to replace the spaces that will be lost for the pavilion structure. That work will also take place this summer.

Due to the city’s work downtown, the Cinco De Mayo festival will take place at The REC Center on Saturday, May 3 instead of downtown. Lincoln Highway Heritage Festival will take place at Atwood Park Aug. 15-17 instead of downtown for one year only. 

Much of the work will be covered by a Rebuild Illinois Downtowns & Main Street Capital Grant from Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity that the city received in January 2022. The grant amount is for $1,151,974 and covers parking lot restoration, the construction of two new lots and public restrooms.

“I'm super excited,” Pease said. “This is probably one of the bigger things that's going to bring our downtown to the next level. We're working on someone to potentially be able to coordinate events and work on recruiting more events to our downtown. All of the existing events now will be able to save money on renting a stage and portable restrooms. It will help with our existing events and hopefully create even more events. The goal is to create more foot traffic for our downtown businesses. Maybe they expand their hours because there's more people there from an event. This is a big project for us.”

The city also has plans for a new mural on a wall that faces the overpass at ALM Fine Cabinetry, and an urban park near West Fourth Avenue and North Sixth Street at the former site of Vinny’s Barbershop.

Pease said the businesses in the downtown area are excited about the planned work, namely because of the addition of public restrooms, which will be the first in the area. The plan is to complete all of the work by summer 2026.

“That would be a great goal to have it all done before the next Lincoln Highway Heritage Festival,” Pease said. “This is my 13th year with the city and our downtown looks completely different today. Our city manager, mayor and council are supportive of our ideas and we're lucky to have that.”