Batavia to spend $150,000 on riverfront plan

BATAVIA – The city of Batavia and the Batavia Park District will spend $150,000 to develop a master plan for the community’s Fox River shoreline.

In a special meeting on Wednesday, members of the city council and the park board discussed a coordinated strategy for improving and managing Batavia’s riverfront.

Each of the governments pledged to commit $75,000 in next year’s fiscal budget to commission Hitchcock Design Group of Naperville to study the Batavia river corridor and develop the master plan.

While the plan would include removal of the Challenge Dam and an engineering project to preserve Depot Pond, the scope of work would be far more wide-ranging.

“We’re trying to open up the river as a recreational facility,” 5th Ward Alderman Michael O’Brien said. “It’s time to do it.”

However, the first phase of Hitchcock’s work calls for a specific plan to remove the low-head dam and how to maintain water levels on the pond, City Administrator Laura Newman said.

Well over a century old, the Challenge Dam is slowly deteriorating, threatening to reduce the water depths at the pond.

The dam extends from the tip of the peninsula north of Batavia City Hall across the main river channel to the east bank at the Challenge Building.

On the west side of the peninsula is Depot Pond, presenting a scenic view for visitors to the Batavia Riverwalk.

Park district officials noted that the Riverwalk is the top destination for users of park facilities in the community.

While the Illinois Department of Natural Resources may be expected to pay for removal of the dam, it will fall to the city and park district to pay for the project to preserve the dam.

The plan would be to construct an earthen berm extending north from the tip of the peninsula to connect with Duck Island and then curve northwest to meet with the west bank of the river, closing off the pond. Pumps would need to be installed to maintain water levels and flow.

Second Ward Alderman Alan Wolff said he wants the project to keep annual maintenance costs to a minimum.

A study performed in 2003 concluded that it would cost $12 million to enclose the pond and install a pump system to maintain the water level.

The Hitchcock plan is expected to be completed in the fall of 2021.