Your Downtown Morton

• Prev
• 1 of 5
• Next

When Morton officials asked residents their thoughts about their community a few years, one thing stood out: They wanted a nicer downtown area.

Those officials listened then and they are listening now, formulating plans for new development downtown that will include much input again from the residents, said Jennifer Daly, CEO of the Morton Chamber of Commerce/Economic Development Council.

The village, in a project it called Your Downtown Morton, showed conceptual plans drawn by Chicago-based Houseal Lavigne Associates to citizens earlier in the summer, then surveyed them about what elements of those plans they liked, disliked or wanted to see tweaked here or there.

From those survey results planners will narrow the choices, make some changes and present them to village officials before the real nitty-gritty planning begins – things like figuring out costs, where the money will come from and who will be responsible for what. "All the fun stuff is yet to come," Daly said.

Because there is so much left to do, she added, there is no time frame for completion yet, though she hopes much of the final plan will be implemented within five years. "Some of the elements will depend heavily on what the private sector is willing to do," she said.

For example, one element in the conceptual plans would be a mixed-used development, with a building that houses commercial companies, offices and retail, surrounded by new residential development such as townhouses and apartments.

The centerpiece in the conceptual plan is a public plaza that would take up a full city block and include such elements as a band shell, water-park type area and playground and a place for a sculpture or memorial. It would be a public gathering place, like a park right in the heart of downtown.

"I really think the final plan will end up very similar to the initial concept, based on what we're hearing from the public," Daly said. "We've had input already, from the start when we did the village comprehensive plan and people made it very evident they wanted to improve and beautify the downtown area. That's why we decided to include a strong downtown development component in the comprehensive plan."

Houseal Lavigne, which was hired by the village for $70,000 to do the conceptual plan, include input it received during meetings with businesses and several focus groups, as well as research into various concepts.

Daly said the Chicago firm was told from the start that public input was important and that the concept needed to be something that the private sector would buy into because private sector funding will be necessary to implement any plans. The Village Board believes in the importance of including the public in the planning, as well, she said.

"It has really been exciting. This is the first time Morton has done something like this and people are getting more and more excited about the possibilities that exist downtown," Daly said.

About the Author