What to expect in the Sauk Valley in 2024

— From the addition of quality of life amenities and public safety enhancements to local elections, there are plenty of things to anticipate in the new year in the Sauk Valley. Here are five stories to watch in 2024: The Dixon War Memorial Arch will be spruced up as the result of work slated to begin in April, including paint, electrical service improvements and new letters with LED lights.

The Dixon City Council in October committed funds for the electrical work and to install new lighted letters on the Arch, and then were gifted with $63,000 from and the Wolber family to pay for the renovations. The Dixon arch has a history dating back more than 100 years. An original wooden arch was constructed in May 1919 to commemorate Lee County soldiers who fought in World War I.

By 1949, some residents reported the arch as an “unsightly hazard,” and it was rebuilt and rededicated. It then was widened, heightened and rededicated in about 1965, when Galena Avenue was expanded to four lanes. In 1984, it was decided to take down the arch and replace it with a fiberglass structure, which was built in 1985 and is what greets visitors and community members today.

Dixon’s $7.3 million bike path extension project, which saw a groundbreaking this spring, continues to be developed. Work has been progressing on the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program project that will extend the bike path by 1.6 miles. The path, six years in the making, will stretch east on River Road toward Raynor Garage Doors and west along the river with a ramp to the viaducts running to Seventh Street.

The ITEP bike path project is the third phase in the city’s riverfront master plan, and it will lead into the fourth phase, Project Rock, for which Dixon won a $12 million federal transportation grant to build a pedestrian bridge across the Rock River and add more trail. The this fall approved updated plans for the long awaited redevelopment of the Lawrence Bros.

and National Manufacturing sites, the main components of the city’s $300 million . Much of the work is set to begin in 2024. Plans call for prioritizing the use of local labor and materials, developers Gorman & Co said. According to , Phase 1 will focus primarily on preparation of the 3.5 acre Lawrence Bros.

site, in light of the $500,000 federal Environmental Protection Agency remediation grant the city was awarded in May. It includes: • Submitting applications to get both sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. • Remediation work at Lawrence, which is contaminated with metals and inorganic materials, as well as the installation of solar lighting and new windows, and cleaning up the main building.

• Creating and marketing information for potential investors on the planned hotel/event center in Lawrence buildings 1, 2 and 3, and plans for the mixed use development of National buildings 3, 4, 6 and 7. • Determining if there is interest in redeveloping Lawrence buildings 9, 10 and 11 for residential use or, alternatively, determining how much demolition would cost if there proves to be no local interest.

• Completing the hotel market study. • Hosting a tour of the sites with Illinois Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen in preparation for another funding request. All of this work already is budgeted. Phase 2 focuses on the National Building. It calls for creating about 127 workforce housing units in buildings 1, 2 and 5 at a cost of $41 million.

It will be a mixed income project, serving residents who make 60% to 100% of the area median income, who will lease their apartments. Funding for construction likely will come from low income housing tax credits, traditional debt, tax increment financing revenue, historic tax credits and soft gap funding.

It is projected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2027. Phase 3A involves Lawrence buildings 1, 2 and 3, and involves construction of an estimated 75 room hotel and event center, bar/restaurant and parking on the west end of the site. The estimated cost is $46.3 million, with an estimated start date of June 1 and an estimated completion date of July 1, 2027.

Phase 3B involves Lawrence Building 4. It calls for creating 33 workforce housing units plus parking on the east end at a cost of $22.3 million. The estimated start date is Oct. 1, and the completion date would be April 1, 2029. This workforce housing project provides an opportunity to incorporate the east end boiler house into the proposed multifamily project, Gorman said.

Plan amenities include a rooftop grilling patio for residents, and 33 one and two bedroom units to serve the Sterling workforce up to the 80% area median income level, or up to $42,650 for a single person household. Phase 4 focuses on National Buildings 3, 4, 6 and 7 for possible mixed use development, including the activation of the river side lowest level into shops, bars and restaurants, Gorman said.

If all goes as planned, Sterling will have a playground covering 12,000 square feet of the new park by late 2024. Go to the Riverfront Reimagined website at for a library containing the history, reports, plans and documents on the Lawrence Bros. and National Manufacturing sites. With new development that included the addition of , the new Imaging that offers advanced noninvasive imaging, and planned redevelopment of the MicroIndustries building, the city of Rock Falls could become the home of a new shared firefighting training facility.

Members of the and fire departments are asking the cities to form an intergovernmental agreement as one of several steps needed to build such a facility to enhance scenario based training. Neither Sterling nor Rock Falls fire departments have an easily accessible facility in which to conduct realistic scenarios, Rock Falls Fire Department Capt.

Kyle Sommers said during the Oct. 17 Rock Falls City Council meeting. The Garrett Ramos Training Facility Cooperative – formed after the December 2021 on duty death of Sterling Fire Lt. Garrett Ramos, who fell through the floor of a burning home in rural Rock Falls – was formed between Sterling and Rock Falls “in an effort to construct the proper facility for our organizations,” said Sommers, co chairman of the cooperative’s committee.

Committee members accepted a site the city offered in the Rock Falls Industrial Park on Beltway Drive, Sommers said. He said he expects the project – which is planned to be completed in phases – will take about five years. Sommers asked council members to take the steps needed to enter an intergovernmental agreement or memorandum of understanding with Sterling, ensuring that both fire departments would have equal access to the facility.

Primary elections will take place throughout the state on March 19, paving the way to the November general election. In , Coroner Joseph McDonald, a Democrat, is unopposed in his bid for reelection; no other candidate is listed in the Democratic or Republican race for coroner. County Recorder Kendra Kophamer Bush, a Republican, also is running unopposed in the primary election.

No Democrat is running for the seat. Colleen Buckwalter, a Republican, is the only candidate on the primary ballot for state’s attorney, a position currently held by Terry Costello, who is not running for reelection. No Democratic candidate is seeking the candidacy. Sue Scott, also a Republican, is the only candidate from either party on the ballot for the circuit clerk position.

Current Circuit Clerk Sue Costello is not running for re election. Three officeholders, all Republicans, will run unopposed in their bids for reelection. Circuit Clerk Amy Johnson, Coroner Jesse P. Partington and State’s Attorney Charley Boonstra will be unopposed in the primary election. No Democratic candidate filed to run in any of those three contests..