With cash in hand, Itasca ready to plan new riverwalk

Now more than $240,000 richer, Itasca officials can increase their efforts to create a recreational path along Spring Creek.

The village Wednesday received a $241,575 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to help develop the proposed Itasca Riverwalk.

In addition, trustees have hired Hitchcock Design Group, which designed Naperville's Riverwalk in the early 1980s, to create a plan for Itasca by February.

The agreement calls for the village to pay $39,000 to Hitchcock Design for the planning stages. The cost of the development and bidding phases will be determined later.

"I can't even begin to put into words how excited I am for the village to be making progress on this after two years of talking about it," Village President Gigi Gruber said Wednesday.

"Today, we get our seed money," she said. "And we know that within three months from now, we'll have a physical plan in our hands."

Village officials last month walked the proposed path route. They also announced the pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly path would link several village, park district and library amenities south of Spring Creek.

Gruber said the goal of the Itasca Riverwalk would be to increase pedestrian traffic near the intersection of Walnut Avenue and Irving Park Road. The area has a bakery, some restaurants and other small shops.

The existing concept for the Itasca Riverwalk calls for the path to run primarily along the south side of Spring Creek. It would link the old village hall at the intersection of Walnut and Line Street to the Spring Brook Nature Center along Forest Avenue and the new municipal complex along Irving Park.

Once the plan is finalized early next year, trustees will have a better idea of construction costs and will be able to budget accordingly, Gruber said.

"Once we have the plan and the dollars allotted, we've been told construction would take about four months," she said. "But this won't be done by the late spring, because we're going to try to get as much grant money as possible first."

Itasca's Riverwalk, Parks and Landscape Design Committee is expected to meet every Monday this month and possibly into next month to hash out the details.