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Elgin Sustainability Commission awards neighborhood grants

A windmill that once stood at the corner of McLean Boulevard and Larkin Avenue in Elgin, pumping water for the house that was then outside city limits, is getting a new home on State Street.

The Elgin Area Historical Society was one of seven groups to receive city grant funding to complete its project, which includes signs about the windmill, sustainability and Elgin history. The $2,000 Neighborhood Improvement Grant will pay for those signs to tell the story of the windmill from its new location in Foundry Park.

The park, along Route 31 near Highland Avenue, was once the site of a windmill factory.

“There was a lot of industry at that point, so this will highlight and honor the industry of Elgin,” said George Rowe, president of the historical society.

Frank Engel, of Hampshire, restored the windmill after it was moved from outside the 1921 home in 2004. The historical society must conclude a zoning process through the city before the artifact can be moved to Foundry Park.

The Neighborhood Improvement Grant Program offered $50,000 this year to neighborhood groups and other organizations interested in projects that pertain to sustainability. The Sustainability Commission awarded about $37,500 in grants to the seven applicants, leaving leftover money to be disbursed on a rolling basis as more groups apply.

Other recipients were:

Ÿ The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for a bike map to identify bike paths and points of interest in town;

Ÿ The Fountain Square Condominium Homeowners Association for plants in its public parking lot;

Ÿ The NorthEast Neighborhood Association (NENA) to add an educational component to its butterfly garden;

Ÿ Judson University, NENA, the Kane County Forest Preserve and the City of Elgin to help fund a pedestrian bridge across the Fox River, connecting Judson to Elgin’s east side;

Ÿ The Country Brook subdivision to install native plants and beautify the entrance of the subdivision;

Ÿ The Downtown Neighborhood Association for educational signage at the Harvest Market.

For more information about the grants, visit cityofelgin.org.

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