City seeks grants to help with two major downtown projects

April 29, 2008

By Edward Husar

The Quincy City Council is seeking nearly $1.7 million in grants to help finance two major downtown projects.

One proposed project is a bicycle/pedestrian connector between Clat Adams Park and Edgewater Park, estimated to cost $749,555. The other is a series of streetscape improvements around the new Health Department building and the Salvation Army's Kroc Community Center, estimated to cost $913,159.

The city is seeking Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grants for both projects. In each case, the city's share would be 20 percent of the cost. However, there is no guarantee that the grants will be awarded.

"The likelihood of both being funded is pretty unlikely, but you've got to try," said Chuck Bevelheimer, director of planning and development.

Mayor John Spring agreed. "We're going to make every effort to seek the funds. We're not bashful in asking for state and federal support for our community," he said.

Spring said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Friday that he was earmarking $245,000 in federal funding for the riverfront connector project. This money would come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Economic Development Initiative program. But there is no guarantee that funding will survive budget appropriation.

The riverfront connector project has been talked about for several years. It would connect the two riverfront parks with a new lighted trail. The Quincy Park District completed a major renovation of Edgewater Park about three years ago.

The streetscape improvements being proposed would take place on Hampshire, from Third to Fourth; on Fourth, from Hampshire to Vermont; on Vermont, from Fourth to Fifth; and on Fifth, from Vermont to Broadway.

"What we'd like to do is mirror what we're doing on Maine Street right now," Spring said.

The council voted 13-1 to seek the grant money from the state. Alderman Raymond "Skip" Vahlkamp cast the only opposition. He said he feels both projects are "excessive."

"I think they're way more expensive than what we need," Vahlkamp said.

He especially doesn't like how the city is planning to install ornamental lights with both projects. "I just don't think we should be doing that," Vahlkamp said. "It makes us more dependent on foreign oil."