Downtown Oswego Public Improvement Project Begins

OSWEGO, IL — Crews on Thursday began work on improvements to Downtown streets and other public infrastructure, as part of a larger Downtown revitalization project that will bring at least three new developments. Street closures will be in effect from now until December, village officials said.

South Adams Street was closed from Washington to Van Buren streets Thursday as workers got started on new sewer construction in the area. The work is just one component of a larger public improvement project in the downtown area, which will include: a reconstructed Adams Street, a rebuilt alley connecting Adams Street to Main Street, a 21-car parking lot, buried utility lines and a new pedestrian corridor.

The $1.7 million public improvement project will help pave the way for a slew of new developments in the area known as "Block 11" in Downtown Oswego, which is the block bounded by Adams, Main, Washington and Van Buren streets.

Four new private developments have been announced for the square block. In early September, Imperial Investments broke ground on its redevelopment of the former village hall site, which will house a three-story mixed-use development featuring restaurant and office space. Directly across the to-be-reconstructed alley from the village hall site sits the former Dairy Hut building, which be demolished t make room for the 5,000-square-foot Dairy Barn.

In May, demolition began at 63 W. Washington, the former home of the Chamber of Commerce, which will eventually house a Mexican restaurant from the team behind Potter's Place in Naperville. Work has not yet begun on the new building, said Village Administrator Dan Di Santo. Firehouse Pizza & Pub is also slated for redevelopment.

The village will also install a trash compactor in the area, to be used by the new businesses so that garbage trucks don't need to visit the area as often, Di Santo said. As a whole, the public project was agreed to as part of the redevelopment pact with the private developers to help kickstart Downtown's revitalization, he said.

"For years, there wasn't anything happening on those blocks," Di Santo said. "We knew once we built it, people would come."

The public improvements and private developments are part of larger, $64 million Downtown plan that also includes 245 luxury apartments and 12,000-square-feet of new retail along Washington Street. In early 2019, village officials and developers held a kickoff that marked the start of the project known as Hudson Crossing.

Village officials are also working to get a streetlight and other pedestrian safety measures installed along Washington Street in Downtown Oswego.

A reconstrcuted Adams Street will likely be re-opened by early December, DiSanto said. Harrison Street will also be reconstrcuted.