Milton could square off downtown district
If you go
What: Interactive public planning session for Milton's Parkview Drive downtown area. Includes information from city officials and city consultants. Public input is encouraged.
When: 5:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 27.
Where: Seventh Day Baptist Church, 720 E. Madison Ave., Milton.
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A picnic table sits in Milton’s South Goodrich Park. Milton is considering ways to make a large part of the city that includes a commercial district sitting between South Janesville Street and Parkview Drive more attractive to people.
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MILTON — The public will have a chance Thursday to sound off on changes that could be coming to a historic business district on the city's east side.
If a redevelopment plan gets off the ground, officials could move forward on a new downtown square along Parkview Drive between High Street and Madison Avenue.
"Right now, the (Parkview Drive) district is a blur without a common theme," Milton City Administrator Todd Schmidt said this week.
In 2014, once the Highway 26 bypass is completed and traffic migrates east, city merchants and officials fear the Parkview Drive district could become a blur without visitors or customers.
The fear and criticism aren't new. Officials have talked about redevelopment of the district in long term plans written in the last few years. Now the idea is headed to the drawing board with a $30,000 grant and city-funded study due this summer.
Schmidt said the study could help officials learn how to tie together disparate elements of commerce, recreation and historic features on Milton's east side.
Officials say it could take a combination of streetscape work, street and parking reconfigurations, a park revamp and extensive marketing studies to create a functional downtown square.
The result could be an area based on foot traffic and cottage industry. It would be called Goodrich Square, a nod to one of the city's founding families.
Schmidt said a downtown square wouldn't magically transform Milton into a Galena, Ill., or a Lake Geneva, but it could slow down traffic and lure foot and bicycle commerce.
As part of redevelopment, two parks in the district, north and south Goodrich Park, could be modified substantially.
Parts of the parks are now dominated by ball diamonds. Schmidt said the spaces could be modified to include a playing field, but also splash parks or an area for outdoor cinema.
"These are just ideas. Maybe someone else will think of something better," he said.
Plans for redevelopment are wide open, Schmidt said. That's where Thursday's input session comes in.
"There's not a single thing written down that's guiding us, and not a single dollar earmarked for any one feature. That's why public input is really necessary," Schmidt said.
Schmidt would not give an estimated price tag for the potential square.
He said a finished study by Vandewalle and Associates, Madison, would give the city council a phasing plan and cost estimates for the redevelopment.
The Parkview Drive district is in a tax increment financing area. The TIF has amassed about $200,000 in trapped revenue, officials said, $15,000 of which is being used to fund the redevelopment study.
Redevelopment plans and work would hinge on future TIF revenues in the district, officials say.
Schmidt said plans don't include replacing buildings near the proposed square.
"I've heard no interest in tearing down existing business infrastructure and replacing it with something that doesn't fit the area's historical character," he said.
Schmidt said he hopes plans for Goodrich Square can ease the anxiety some merchants feel over the city's main highway shifting east.
"I'd like to be able to say, 'Let it move. We're ready. We've got big plans here,'" he said.
May 27, 2010 at 1:28 p.m.
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Great plain, do you know how long the diamonds been there? At one time in the 20's I believe it was a football field also. How many remember when Parkview drive was highway 26? I remember hearing they used to have a racetrack around the area. A town square does not fit the layout of the area.
May 27, 2010 at 1:20 p.m.
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badger2, first of all, parks and greenspace are proven to be psychologically healthy, and they are known to increase property values. Second, there are already many vacant spaces in Milton that can't lease at feasible rents, so how would building more boost the economy? The shortage is not in buildings or commercial development land.
May 27, 2010 at 12:18 p.m.
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MusicalRobots - You are very correct on both accounts!
May 27, 2010 at 11:46 a.m.
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Walworth County gets tons of people going to its portion of the Ice Age Trail, but we get very few in ours. Could it be because everything is organized around motorized vehicles and hunting? We need to attract more of the rich Illinois tourists by making more of the resources we have -- our history and our beautiful parks, including our more rugged portions of the Ice Age Trail. Why don't we become the dog-friendly tourist place?, to offer just one idea. Why don't we have a Lincoln Days?, an Emancipation Days?, a Celebrate Nature Days?
(The open air cinema is a great idea, especially if we could have unique movies that would attract these same tourists.)
May 27, 2010 at 11:39 a.m.
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Milton is slow to change, but the rerouting can lead to improvement.
Thank goodness for the discussion. You can blame Todd, or whomever, but better yet this is opportunity. It wouldn't be used as it is without previous planning and design. I'm sure some other folks flew up red flags when diamonds were proposed on the South end years ago.
May 27, 2010 at 11:13 a.m.
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JJL...you are funny...what stench? I take my son to the park all the time and have yet to smell any stench! Also, from what I understand they do have employees there from Milton, but anyway what does that have to do with this article anyway?? :)
May 27, 2010 at 9:35 a.m.
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We DON'T need anymore parks...that park land needs to be sold off for business development after the bypass is complete...same with a large portion of that wasted land in Crossridge...lets spur the Economy not Slow it down
May 27, 2010 at 9:03 a.m.
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yea, i say put some more picnic tables into the park so we can all sit around and smell the stench that blows in from the ethanol plant that the Mayor and city administrators secretly brought into town a few yrs back without the good citizens of Milton s approval or knowledge....yea, you can really trust them alright,...where are all them job that the mayor and his tin solders promised all the good people from Milton?
May 27, 2010 at 9:02 a.m.
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It seems, at first glance, that it's just a matter of bringing people in to spend money. I get that. Looking harder though at everything combined, it starts to look like we're taking baby steps to be a big city.
The bypass moved traffic away. The soccer complex and the park will bring traffic in. What exactly is the vision for Milton's future?
May 27, 2010 at 8:46 a.m.
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Todd Schmidt sounds like a 9 year old with a $20 bill burning a hole in his pocket. He just can't wait to spend (the peoples) money.
May 27, 2010 at 8:32 a.m.
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Milton's administrator will sell them a stupid idea. There is nothing wrong with what it is. The city wanted to get rid of 26, now they want the traffic back to help buisness. For the last 50 years Milton has been a bedroom community, thats all. I think there are other concerns in Milton that should be addressed before we have another fiasco with this.
May 27, 2010 at 8:11 a.m.
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Yes, highway 26 will be rerouted, but hwy 59 will still go through there. Even the shopping area out by the piggly wiggly store is closing stores. Both the Movie Gallery and the liquor store have closed this year. It's the economy, not how pretty the parking spots are thats closing stores.
May 26, 2010 at 10:47 p.m.
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I think.
May 26, 2010 at 10:46 p.m.
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Chiller was being sarcastic.
May 26, 2010 at 9:25 p.m.
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cardtrader change is one thing but you do not let one part of your city die. I think this is good approach at least they are taking a proactive approach instead of waiting till the highway is moved. And chiller those condos are ugly and why would you destroy your historic areas.
May 26, 2010 at 7:38 p.m.
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Maybe newly built condo's like edgerton has would attract some revenue to Historic milton
May 26, 2010 at 4:37 p.m.
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Beware when government officials hire outside consulting firms to make a guess on what some building project will cost. Before long your tax money will be nothing but a blur leaving your hand.
May 26, 2010 at 4:18 p.m.
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I'm affraid there is not much anybody is going to be able to do to revive this dead horse. This community just does not except change very well. Thanks City hall
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