Elk Grove Village considering fountain for downtown

Elk Grove Village officials are considering an $850,000 greenway renovation project, which would include an interactive, lighted fountain near village hall.

A street between the hall and library would be ripped up for a larger greenway, which would accommodate an entertainment venue where the village's first summer concert series would be held next July, village officials said. Trees would be removed and sidewalks refurbished as part of the project.

The fountain would be interactive, meaning people will be able to walk through the jets of perpendicular water.

It'd also have the capacity to be lit with different colors. For instance, during the Fourth of July, red, white and blue light could be beamed through the shafts of water, officials said,

The new fountain would replace an older one, which needs major repairs, costing at least $200,000.

The village is currently revamping its village office complex, so officials decided it'd be a good time to redo the greenway.

The project, costing about $30 million, is expected to be completed next year. The village is in the process of knocking down the current one-story, 40,000-square-foot police station and converting it into a two-story, 60,000- to 70,000-square-foot facility with underground parking for squad cars. The current village hall, at 901 Wellington Ave., has remained untouched, while police department services have been moved to a new location during construction.

"Let's do the whole (village greenway) over while we're doing the village hall," Mayor Craig Johnson said. "It just makes sense."

The money for the project would initially come out of the village's capital projects fund, but most would be recouped through a special taxing district set up to redevelop a nearby shopping center.

The board will vote on the project as early as its next meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Although residents have the annual Rotary Fest in mid-June, a Fourth of July Fireworks celebration and the Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove bike race in mid-August, there's not much local summer entertainment between those events, Johnson said. The concert series, called the Mid-Summer Classics, would fill that void, he said.

"Why not do something for community that's free and brings people together," Johnson said.

The $60,000 cost would come out the smoke-free healthy community fund, which was created by a village fee on businesses that sell tobacco products.

The concert series lineup would be:

• July 7 - B.J. Thomas

• July 14 - Classic Rock All Stars: Rare Earth, Sugarloaf, Iron Butterfly

• July 21 - Light Up - Styx tribute band

• July 28 - Jan and Dean