Algonquin Main Street making progress

Village President John Schmitt said they knew downtown Algonquin had to make some improvements – or it was going to die.

Because the downtown is the “heart of the village,” they were not going to let that happen, Schmitt said at a recent ribbon-cutting celebrating the completion of the first phase of construction on Algonquin’s “Old Town” revitalization project.

“Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are going to be coming down and enjoying this downtown ... because of the ambience and because of what this downtown is going to bring to this village,” Schmitt said. “So it’s really, really important.”

Southbound traffic on Algonquin’s Main Street opened last month after being closed because of construction. Now, work continues on other phases of the project.

While Main Street now is “substantially complete,” Public Works Director Bob Mitchard said there is some utility work remaining before it is done and northbound traffic is open.

“[AT&T] has to replace their utility and cable cords and relocate them,” Mitchard said.

Once that’s done, the village can finish work on the sidewalks in that area, and the street should be open to Northbound traffic by the end of the year, or even this month.

However, all of the major projects on the road, such as the bridge archway, traffic enhancements and adding an electric vehicle charging station, are done.

Phase 1 of the of the project is complete but there are five other phases of the project that need to be completed, Mitchard said.

During Phases 2 and 3 of the Old Town Algonquin Project, the village will run a deep sewer through downtown. This will take place over the next two years. Once the deep sewer is installed, the village will go back into those areas and do the streetscape work, putting everything back together to make it look like the rest of the downtown, with brick enhancements and seating areas. When that is done, it will do all the patching and put the streets back together.

Downtown businesses have said the construction on Main Street has taken a toll on them and lost them customers, but traffic headed south helps.

Shannon Tampa, owner of Melt Hot Yoga at 123 S. Main St., said they had regular clients who stuck with them through construction, but they missed the foot and drive-by traffic.

“It’s been a struggle, but we’re really appreciative of our loyal clients who kept coming, walking through the dirt, walking through everything, dodging the diggers and holes and everything else,” Tampa said.

As soon as the bridge was partially reopened, the yoga studio saw a lot more people walking around the area.

“It’s beautiful,” Tampa said. “It was a struggle to get through, but we’re happy that it’s done.”

Lucy Medina, a former nurse who now owns Healthy by Choice 102 S. Main St., a health and wellness coaching center that does cryotherapy, or cold treatments, to help people with pain, said she was one of the “crazy people” that opened in the midst of all the construction.

“I like a challenge,” she said.

Medina said starting out, the lack of traffic initially hurt the new business. While she put signs and information on the window to pique people’s interest and tell them what she does, they weren’t able to see it. With all the dust and dirt, she also couldn’t leave the door open. But now, with the bridge open, Medina is looking forward to the new year and “all the new possibilities.”

Medina said she has been working at various jobs downtown for the past 20 years. She never thought downtown would be like this.

“[The bridge] is beautiful,” she said. “[Like Schmitt said], I actually thought [downtown] was going to die. West Dundee has a nice little downtown, Crystal Lake has a good, booming downtown – it’s about time that they made some changes and fixed up and spruced it up.”