Marseilles infrastructure projects get a needed boost

It’s said one can’t bake a cake without breaking a few eggs, and the city of Marseilles has cracked a few this summer.

One of several infrastructure projects now ongoing in Marseilles picked up a big boost last week when Infra-Metals donated $10,000 and the Marseilles Lions Club contributed $7,000 toward the Broadway Park improvement project.

Marseilles Mayor Jim Hollenbeck said the project was running $400,000 over its projected cost of $1 million and was in the process of being trimmed back – nondescript facets such as narrowing the sidewalks from 8 feet wide to 6 – because of a lack of funding.

He added that having city workers do most of the removal of pavement to be replaced already has saved the project $85,000.

Still, the check presented by Ryan Nelle to Hollenbeck at last week’s City Council meeting and the Lions Club donation provided a financial pick-me-up, providing a good portion of the $27,000 needed to put up a new shelter/pavilion at the park.

The mayor is confident that the project is back to costing close to the $900,000 that the city had budgeted and is “cautiously optimistic” about picking up more donations to defray that cost. He said that construction should start in August and be finished this year, weather permitting.

“We’ve been working very diligently on getting the project back to the budget, and these donations were a big help,” Hollenbeck said. “Having the city workers doing some of the tear-up work saved us some, and trimming back a few things helped us, too. I’m happy to say we haven’t had to cut back on any of the amenities we had planned.”

Among the other ongoing projects making great progress are the $500,000 Rutland Street sidewalk project, although rising costs did force the cutting of one section scheduled for Bratton Avenue to 10th Street.

“We’ll try to get that another time,” Hollenbeck said. “Right now, it’s about 70% through and should be completed within the 30 days or so.”

Also on the cusp of getting started is the repaving and curb replacement along lower Ryall and Second streets. The council last week approved a bid of $326,999 from Universal Asphalt and Excavating to do the work.

And last but not least, the renovation of the new Marseilles City Hall, the old Illinois Valley Cellular building that the city purchased in March, will begin next week near the Middle East Conflicts Wall, with Phalen Steel out of Mendota handling the work.

The council discussed the possibility of making a change to the already-approved floor plan of the area near the Middle East Conflicts Museum. The design originally called for the museum and a community room to share one space, with the former remaining as is, but that issue couldn’t be agreed upon and has been tabled for further discussion down the line.

“We have a lot of things going on right now, so it’s a pretty exciting summer,” Hollenbeck said. “We also have a total of five new houses going up right now, when we hadn’t had any for a few years, so it’s great to see that turning around. … It’s gonna be a good year for us. We hope it keeps going that way.”