Rosemont entertainment district parking garage improvements to begin
Rosemont will begin work to improve its entertainment district parking garage while it waits for the rest of a $15 million state grant earmarked for construction of a skybridge between the garage and Fashion Outlets of Chicago mall.
The village received $3.75 million last year, but the rest has been tied up in the ongoing state budget stalemate.
Mayor Brad Stephens said he expects to get those funds once a capital bill is approved in Springfield, but until then, the village is using the money it has to start concrete and caulking work in the 7-level, 8,500-space Williams Street garage, located on the east side of MB Financial Park.
The village board Wednesday approved a $2.9 million construction contract to fix the most needed areas, though Stephens said more than $2 million could later be approved for additional garage upgrades.
Construction will start now, and is expected to take between 9 months and a year, since the project will work around shows at the neighboring Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Stephens said.
The climate-controlled walkway — proposed for installation over Balmoral Avenue between the Williams Street garage and mall garage — is expected to cost $10 million alone.
The funding delays could be a “blessing in disguise,” Stephens said, since possible mall expansion plans announced last year could make the skybridge cheaper.
The bridge currently is proposed to extend to the mall's parking garage, but if mall owner Macerich decides to expand, the bridge would connect to the mall itself, Stephens said.
If completed, the skybridge would allow people to walk indoors from the mall to MB Financial Park, and then through existing skywalks to the convention center.