Empty lots in downtown Algonquin could see development following creek work

The final leg of Crystal Creek, which runs through downtown Algonquin before flowing into the Fox River, is key to the continued development of that part of the village, village planners said.

This month, construction crews began erecting a cofferdam inside the creek in preparation for major work adjusting the creek bed. Transforming the creek will in turn allow for a major transformation of the downtown area, Public Works Director Robert Mitchard said.

That transformation includes the planned construction of a new riverwalk between Towne Park and Cornish Park, a new bridge over the creek along Harrison Street, and development within the empty parcel bounded by the creek, Main Street, and Algonquin Road.

The overall project will cost $7.1 million and be paid using the village’s street improvement fund, which comes from revenues generated by the village’s downtown tax increment financing district, Mitchard said. The cost does not include the commercial development.

“In past decades, the way the creek was developed is not really attractive,” Mitchard said. “We are trying to make the Crystal Creek an amenity to downtown rather than a detraction, and allow people to walk along the creek so people can enjoy the space.”

Plans for the riverwalk and streetscape project were finalized in December of last year, and construction on the cofferdams began earlier this month. The goal is to complete the cofferdams by early August and the entire creek restoration by mid-December, including the new bridge and riverwalk, Olson said.

Once the temporary dams are placed along the creek, construction crews will build a new, more natural-looking retaining wall along the creek as it goes flows from Towne Park, said T.J. Olson, a superintendent with Martam Construction, who is working on the site.

Closer to the Fox River, the Harrison Street bridge will be rebuilt to look more like its counterpart along Main Street, which was rebuilt in 2018 to be more aesthetically pleasing and pedestrian friendly, Mitchard said.

Underneath the bridge, the creek will be straightened, widened and restored to its natural creek bed, Mitchard said. Currently, it is guided via concrete channels underneath Harrison Street, and the bridge’s narrow underpass restricts the ability for the creek to get to the Fox River.

Between the new design of the creek bed and a floodwater storage area underneath a newly paved parking lot north of Main Street, land the city bought for future development should no longer be in the floodplain, Mitchard said.

The village also bought an option on the property where Creekside Tap currently sits for December 2023, Mitchard said. If the site is ready to be developed by then, the city will raze the restaurant and prep the site for a completely new development, which would be chosen via a public request for proposals process.

The downtown area has already been transformed over the past decade, Mitchard said.

“Downtown used to be a ghost town,” Mitchard said. “Now this place is crowded with people on Fridays and Saturdays. That is important to the village.”

Beyond the creek, other future construction for downtown Algonquin will include a roundabout at Algonquin Road and Main Street, widening Washington Street for festivals, and repaving all downtown residential streets, Mitchard said.

The riverwalk and other downtown infrastructure projects are being overseen by Christopher B. Burke Engineering. Between the different phases of construction, there is aesthetic consistency, such as including the same stone retaining walls along North Main Street, Crystal Creek and the Prairie Trail pedestrian bridge just south of downtown, senior construction engineer Jeff Mysliwiec said.

“It all kind of ties in together,” Mysliwiec said, adding the plan is to finish the roundabout by Thanksgiving.

A “beautiful riverwalk” also would be a major welcome addition to residents who use the village’s trail system, said Katie Gock, recreation superintendent for Algonquin.

Creek flooding closer to Towne Park also was responsible for a smaller-than-normal baseball field, which is because of be replaced in the coming years, Gock said.

“Everybody I talked to is extremely happy with what has been done with this area,” Olson said. “The [village] has been a very good partner to work with.”