Wheaton completing first step toward downtown transformation
An infrastructure project that ushered in the start of a downtown Wheaton revitalization will wrap up by the weekend in time for a holiday tradition.
Construction crews are patching asphalt in the road and concrete in the curbs as they put the finishing touches on a $1.1 million water main and sanitary sewer replacement project under a segment of Front Street. Crews are set to complete the job on schedule to allow for unrestricted parking and uninterrupted seasonal activities downtown, beginning with a Christmas parade the day after Thanksgiving.
Wheaton officials also are proceeding with the next step in the broader plan to bolster the central business district. City council members on Monday directed urban design architects to prepare construction documents that the city will use in January to seek bids from contractors for a major transformation of the streetscape along Front Street.
Architects have laid out a multiyear plan to turn the downtown into a vibrant destination with rebuilt streets, wider sidewalks, reconfigured parking, new landscaping and amenities.
The city has budgeted $7.24 million for the initial phase of that scheme. That includes the underground utility improvements, the new-look streetscape for Front Street and a new gathering space to replace the Robert J. Martin Memorial Plaza, a special events venue named in honor of Wheaton's former mayor who served until 1990.
The council previously intended to rebuild the plaza at the current site on the south side of Front Street along the railroad tracks.
Leaving the narrow plaza as-is isn't feasible because the city is planning a reconstruction of Front Street next year, and sloping on the site doesn't meet accessibility standards.
"That area has to be demolished anyway," Assistant City Manager John Duguay said.
But as the owner of the plaza site, Union Pacific informally told the city that the railroad might not sign off on that southside concept because of state regulations that limit obstructions near crossings.
Instead, a Chicago firm is developing designs for a space on the north side of Front Street. Design Workshop's concept for the space - inspired by the city's railroad history and a former train depot nearby - was well-received by council members.
Acting as a barrier between the street and the space, small, movable carts filled with plants and connected with chains would sit on tracks embedded in the walkway - "very much like streetcar tracks," said Jon Brooke, Design Workshop's Chicago office director.
The concept also calls for stringing catenary lights overhead and planting trees in the middle of the space to provide shade without blocking storefronts, Brooke told the council. A water feature would add to the ambience. And an obelisk landmark would mark the entrance to the space. A gas-fired fireplace enclosed in mesh would form the base of that monument.
The building materials chosen for Front Street will serve as a template for later stages of the project, which could cost roughly $35 million, though the council has not yet settled on a scope.
Tax increment financing could provide an estimated $23.7 million in funding. But in October, council members also were at odds over how to pay for other improvements that don't fall within the boundaries of the two tax increment financing districts.
As for the utility project, crews replaced three of the four sections of water mains that run from Front and West streets near the Metra station to Front and Cross streets near the Wheaton 121 apartment complex. Those pipes were 85 to 90 years old.
Duguay said the city could break ground on the Front streetscape project in early to mid-March.