Utica plaza still may be ready by Burgoo, but there’s not much wiggle room

The Market on Mill Street project in Utica is moving along well, but contractors need to maintain that pace to be ready for the Burgoo Festival the weekend of Oct. 12-13.

On Thursday, the Utica Village Board approved a series of payments to contractors working on the Market on Mill. The projects include an outdoor water fountain (about $4,800), synthetic outdoor turf ($90,000) and overhead string lights ($33,675).

The outdoor turf goes in the center of the plaza to facilitate outdoor events such as farmers markets. The overhead lights will be similar to those adorning downtown Mill Street.

“You drive down every day, and you see improvement every day,” village attorney Kevin Heitz said approvingly, “but we need to really move it along in the next six weeks.”

In August 2022, the village was awarded a Rebuild Illinois Downtowns and Main Streets capital grant worth almost $1.25 million to construct the outdoor retail plaza.

In other matters, the board:

• approved variances by Cody Dittle to build a detached garage at 2891 E. 765th Road.
• donated $4,000 to the La Salle County Historical Society to defray Burgoo costs.
• announced that the railroad crossing on Route 178 will be closed about 10 days beginning Monday, Sept. 9. The Lincoln Street bypass still will be open.