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STERLING – Sterling’s Riverfront Commission met Wednesday to discuss updates for Sterling’s $300 million multiphase Riverfront Reimagined project.
Strand Associates project manager Zach Simpson said work on the city’s yet-to-be-named riverfront park is expected to begin this week.
The new park at the former Northwestern Steel and Wire Mill site will include a multiage, accessible playground, a splash pad, a plaza, a park shelter, a stage facility and restrooms. The city awarded a $4.7 million bid to Sjostrom and Sons Inc. of Rockford on Sept. 16 and expects the majority of the work will be finished by June, with a tentative opening the following month.
The park is phase one of the Riverfront Reimagined project. In addition to the park, later phases could include an amphitheater, worker apartments, a hotel and events center, and a rooftop bar/restaurant for the four buildings at the Lawrence site. That could be followed by market-rate apartments, a fitness center and yet-to-be-determined uses of the National site.
City Manager Scott Schumard said the National Manufacturing building’s roof was starting to leak to a point where the city needed to address the issue or face paying more money from resulting water damage. Ron Clewer of developer Gorman & Co., who is leading the project, was absent from the meeting but sent his recommendations.
“The quote he sent is for doing repairs instead of a full replacement at less than $80,000,” Riverfront Commission co-Chairman Marc Geil said. “His recommendation is that we do the repairs in lieu of replacement, and then move to return excess roof repair funds back over to the Lawrence property for lights and window work.”
Sterling City Alderman Josh Johnson said the Riverfront Commission has received $800,000 in donations for phases two and three of Riverfront Reimagined, with another $3 million pledged over the next four years. Sterling Federal Bank recently donated $100,000 for a veterans memorial at the riverfront park.