Officials: Itasca riverwalk will be unique
Whether Itasca's riverwalk develops into a walk through time celebrating the village's heritage or an interactive art gallery featuring a walk-through arboretum, officials believe the end project will be one-of-a-kind.
Within a week, members of the village's landscape and riverwalk committee expect to choose a design concept from one of three pitched by designers Monday evening or a hybrid combining pieces of each to form the pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly path that would, one day, link several village, park district and library amenities south of Spring Creek.
"We're not picking out brick color or floor tiles tonight or next week," said committee chairman and village Trustee Jeff Aiani. "We are looking for themes which will have some of the features so that we have the information we need to present a great concept to the county. Maybe we get one of the three concepts or maybe we get some of the best aspects of each combined into one."
Designers with the Hancock Design Group, which designed the landscape of the Naperville Riverwalk in the early 1980s, pitched three unique concepts they believe would achieve the goal of increasing 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.
The "Walk through History" design highlights the influence that dairy-farming and creek-side millhouses and railroads once had on the village's formation by including millstone statues, mock railroad track paving, and a fountain area that would illustrate some of the village's most important civil servants and their contributions.
The "Traveling alongside Itasca" design highlights the many modes of transportation found in Itasca, ranging from the cars traveling on Irving Park Road to the migratory flight patterns of local bird species.
Pedestrians walking the traveling-themed path would be guided by roadway signs as they pass sculptures of public transportation. And a children's "imagination destination garden" would encourage children to let their minds wander through some of their favorite stories, whether it be down the Yellow Brick Road or on a raft with Tom Sawyer.
Other committee members favored a version of the riverwalk that would feature temporary and permanent works of art including a large, colorful statue near an outdoor amphitheater, an ordered forest of native Illinois trees, and ornamental iron monuments outlining the benefits of healthy rivers and aquatic wildlife.
The committee will meet again Monday, followed by a village board meeting on Tuesday, just days before Dec. 6 when designers plan on presenting the selected riverwalk design to the DuPage County Board to begin the permit and approval process.