Mount Prospect relaunches downtown alfresco dining on Prospect Avenue

This weekend begins the second year of Mount Prospect’s alfresco dining program on Prospect Avenue, just south of the Metra commuter tracks.

Once again, six on-street parking spaces will be converted into a protected outdoor dining area in front of the Lady Dahlia Tequila Bar, 127 W Prospect Ave., and the Patina Wine Bar, 133 W Prospect Ave.

Outdoor diners will be sheltered within concrete barriers — village officials said Lady Dahlia and the Patina Wine Bar collaborate with the village on such beautification elements as planter boxes, umbrellas and decorative lighting.

The program will run into the beginning of October.

Last year’s launch of the program met with some complaints from Prospect Avenue businesses about the loss of parking spaces on the block.

The village responded by striping approximately 90 new parallel parking stalls along Prospect Avenue west of Pine Street.

In addition, the Village secured an additional 40 parking spaces through a lease with St. Mark Lutheran Church, 205 S. Wille St. The lease covers the northernmost section of the lot from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The village board ranked the creation of an alfresco dining plan as a high priority in the 2024-25 Strategic Plan. The village also plans to complete an engineering study for future streetscape, pedestrian, biking, and parking improvements on Prospect Avenue as part of the 2025 Community Investment Plan, which is the village’s capital improvement plan.